


The Scars We Carry

by UnkemptTea



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, During Timeskip (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Torture, Kidnapping, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:03:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 45,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26617900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnkemptTea/pseuds/UnkemptTea
Summary: It has been almost three years after the fall of Garreg Mach, and there is no end in sight for the war against the Empire. After Felix is left badly scarred by a failed mission, Sylvain goes with him on leave to try to discover what went wrong. But, their time together turns out to be not quite as relaxing as they had hoped.
Relationships: Ashe Duran | Ashe Ubert & Ingrid Brandl Galatea, Caspar von Bergliez & Ashe Duran | Ashe Ubert & Linhardt von Hevring, Felix Hugo Fraldarius & Ingrid Brandl Galatea, Felix Hugo Fraldarius & Ingrid Brandl Galatea & Sylvain Jose Gautier, Felix Hugo Fraldarius & Sylvain Jose Gautier
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	1. What Leave is All About

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warning: Alcohol Use

“So why again have I been forced to go on leave with you?” Felix grumbled, unceremoniously tossing his bag on the leftmost bed. He placed a hand on the rumpled comforter and recoiled at its scratchy exterior. “And why are we stuck in this dirty old inn in some nowhere village in your territory?”

“Because Felix,” Sylvain sighed, shaking his head, “anyone who knows you knows that you wouldn’t actually take your leave seriously. I’m here to at least try to make sure that you do.” He walked over to the only window in their room and pulled back the curtain, staring at the small, yet bustling town below. “And besides, we’ve been on the front lines for what, two, almost three years now? I think we’ve earned at least a little rest, don’t you?” Sylvain tossed his hands behind his head and glanced over his shoulder at his traveling companion, trying and failing to hide a smirk at the other’s obvious disdain with their situation.

“Us sitting around doing nothing isn’t going to help anyone but the enemy,” Felix retorted bitterly.

“Yes it will,” Sylvain countered. “If you could just let yourself relax for a bit, you’ll feel more energized once it’s time to get back to the fighting. That’s the whole point of going on leave, you know.”

“That still doesn’t explain why we’re _here_ of all places.” Felix looked around the room some more, aided by the small ray of sunshine allowed in through the now-open window. There really wasn’t much to look at; a small wooden table, dirty and scratched from use, in the corner with a singular chair sitting under it, a stained wardrobe centered along the wall with enough space for maybe one person’s belongings, and two beds in the center of the room, both wearing the same ratty comforter colored with a motley mix of browns and grays.

“Well it’s not like we could really take a vacation to Fhirdiad,” Sylvain replied with a half-smile. “Besides, this is far enough away from the front lines that we shouldn’t have to worry about being spotted by anyone from the Dukedom or the Empire. So just try to take it easy and enjoy yourself, okay? I know how impossible that is for you,” he said exasperatedly, “but just try, please.”

“Fine,” Felix replied curtly. “I’m going out then to find a place I can swing my sword around and not have to listen to you annoy me.” He turned on his heel and walked brusquely out of their room.

“Sword training, really?” Sylvain sighed again, shaking his head. “That doesn’t really sound like you’re taking it easy!” he called out down the hallway, but Felix was already gone.

He turned back around and looked at their room. _Sure, it isn’t the nicest place I’ve ever stayed in,_ Sylvain thought to himself, _but I’ve definitely slept in worse conditions_. He walked back over to the window and glanced outside again. The village they were staying in was small, but it did have an active marketplace with plenty of people, and girls, milling about. “So, how best to enjoy myself?” he wondered aloud, already knowing the answer. He ran a hand through his hair, tousling it slightly, and walked out of the room.

*****

Despite the usual chill expected of northern Faerghus, the glow of sunset kept Felix warm as he finished his training routine. He had been fortunate enough to find a suitable location to train in the nearby forest where he could enjoy some quiet isolation. Slightly out of breath, he returned his sword to its sheath and wiped his brow. Hours had passed since he left the inn and now that he was done training, he realized how hungry he was. Felix began his walk back towards the village, mentally preparing himself for whatever nonsense Sylvain had managed to get himself into while he was gone. It didn’t take him long to get back to the inn, but before he could go inside, Felix heard a voice calling out to him.

“Hey! You’re finally back!” Sylvain said, half-jogging up to where Felix was standing. “I was just about to head to the room to see if you were there.” He leaned back and threw his hands behind his head. “So,” he began, grinning mischievously, “I may have made plans for us tonight.”

Felix frowned. “No. Whatever it is, no. Absolutely not.”

“Oh come on! You’re not even going to let me say what it is?” Sylvain looked at him and shook his head. “Look, when I was in town earlier, I ran into the most beautiful girl and—”

“No,” Felix interrupted. “You can go running around with women all you want, but leave me out of it.” He pushed past Sylvain and walked inside the inn.

Sylvain followed behind, still trying to explain. “So, we hit it off pretty well, and she asked to meet up tonight, and I mentioned that I was here with another single guy, and she said she happened to have a friend who was also single, so I figured—”

“No.” Felix slid his key into the lock and threw open the door to their room.

“Oh come on Felix!” Sylvain persisted. “It’s not like you have to marry the girl or anything! We’re just meeting up at the local tavern to have a couple of drinks. Just think of it as practice for when you’re talking to a girl you’re actually interested in.” He paused for a moment and frowned. “Actually I don’t think I’ve ever seen you show interest in a girl. I mean, I’m not judging, but—”

“That’s enough,” Felix practically growled, suddenly turning to face him. “You are absolutely insatiable. And now you have the nerve to try to drag me into it?”

“Hey I was just trying to do you a favor,” Sylvain countered. “I thought it might help take your mind off of…” His voice trailed off as he noticed Felix’s body tense.

Felix could feel his heart instinctively begin to race and he looked away, not wanting to see the obvious concern in Sylvain’s eyes. “I don’t need you to do me any favors,” he hissed back under his breath, trying to focus on calming the annoying pounding in his chest.

“Okay, okay,” Sylvain replied, his tone softer, “I’m sorry.” He paused for a moment and his eyes turned towards the floor. “Well,” he began, “apparently this girl’s friend lost her fiancé towards the beginning of the war, so this would have been her first time out with a guy since it happened. But, if you don’t want to go, I understand. I mean, I feel bad for the girl, but if you don’t want to...”

Felix balled his hand into a fist, his jaw clenching reflexively. He may not have any interest in romantic relationships, but he also wasn’t completely devoid of emotion. Sylvain had to have known this would remind him of Ingrid. Felix’s thoughts lingered on his old friend and before he knew it, he found himself saying, “Okay. Fine.”

Sylvain couldn’t hold back his surprise. “Wait. Really?” he said, his eyes wide and eyebrows raised. “You’ll do it?”

“Yes,” Felix replied. “But don’t make a big deal out of it, okay? I’m only doing this because you forced me.” He turned away and walked towards the window, wanting to look anywhere other than at Sylvain’s startled expression.

Sylvain smiled. Although his tone was annoyed, there was a compassion in Felix’s eyes that reminded him of when they were kids. “Hey, I really appreciate this, you know,” he said, walking up behind Felix and placing a hand on his shoulder. “And besides,” Sylvain grinned, his voice regaining its usual sarcastic candor, “this kind of thing is what going on leave is all about.”

“I hate you,” Felix said, brushing away Sylvain’s hand, still irritated.

“Yeah, I know, I know,” Sylvain shrugged. “But now that that’s out of the way, why don’t we head into town and find something to eat? I know you haven’t had anything since we got here. And then, we can meet up with the girls afterwards.”

Despite his frustration, Felix hadn’t forgotten his pangs of hunger from earlier, which were now increasing in frequency and intensity. “Alright, fine.” He started towards the door.

“Hold on, you aren’t seriously planning on going out looking like that, right?” Sylvain interjected. “You should at least try to look nice. Or, at least wear something other than what you’ve been training in for the past few hours.”

Felix looked down and saw nothing wrong with his attire. “Why would I bother with something like that?” he replied with an annoyed sigh.

Sylvain shook his head, equally exasperated by the other’s stubbornness. “Just let me pick something out, and then we can leave, okay?”  
He wanted to argue back, but Felix’s hunger won out over his defiance. “Fine. Let’s just get this over with.”

*****

“Well, I wasn’t expecting it to be _that_ good, so I’m pleasantly surprised,” Sylvain remarked with a grin, handing over some gold to the waiting server. They were sitting together in a small restaurant, the gentle chatter of the other patrons echoing off the dully painted walls. They had been fortunate to find a suitable place not too far from where they were staying.

“Agreed,” Felix nodded, finally feeling sated. The meal had been delicious, but the conclusion of it meant that their next engagement was drawing near. He anxiously tugged at the collar of his dress shirt. In contrast to his companion’s zealous nature towards the opposite sex, Felix had no interest in the banality of romantic entanglements. So, he felt woefully underprepared for anything that could be considered a ‘date.’

“So, are you feeling nervous?” Sylvain asked with a smirk, taking notice of the other’s growing apprehension.

“I thought I told you I didn’t want to talk about it,” Felix replied, looking away from Sylvain’s knowing stare.

“You said you didn’t want to talk about it during dinner,” Sylvain countered, “and we’re done eating now.” He grinned and threw his hands behind his head. “So, are you nervous?”

“No,” Felix insisted. “Why would I be nervous about having to talk to some girl?”

“Alright, alright, no need to get defensive,” Sylvain teased. “Just try to have fun tonight, okay? And _please_ try to not be rude or insulting like you usually are. I mean, I’m used to it, but girls can be more sensitive.”

“Are we going to get this over with?” Felix asked, choosing to ignore the insult. “Or are you going to just sit there spouting more nonsense at me?” He stood up from the table and brushed back some loose hairs. However Sylvain had decided to style it felt unnatural, and he was growing annoyed with how easily it flopped in front of his eyes.

“Eager to go, are we?” Sylvain’s teasing persisted. “Alright, let me show you where we promised to meet up.” He led the way out of the restaurant and down a nearby road, heading closer to the center of town.

Felix trailed behind silently, his growing unease fighting with his growing frustration at his own uneasiness. He felt as if he was walking into enemy territory, out of his element and unsure of what to expect. Instinctually, he reached for the hilt of his sword with his left hand, his fingers twisting around its ivory grip. A moment passed before Felix realized what he was doing, and then released his sword, shaking his head at his own foolishness.

The sudden sound of Sylvain’s voice brought him out of his internal strife. “There’s the place,” he said, gesturing down the road. “And there are the lovely ladies that are going to be our dates tonight.” Sylvain ran a hand through his hair, a cocky grin plastered on his face. His pace quickened as he swaggered towards the two young women chatting to themselves outside of the tavern.

Felix followed, looking ahead towards their companions for the evening. One was a taller, busty woman with caramel blonde hair that flowed down her back, wearing a too-tight and too-short black dress, animating her words with exaggerated hand gestures. That one has to be Sylvain’s date, Felix thought, rolling his eyes. He looked over at the other girl. As opposed to the other’s obvious attempt at outward beauty, this one was surprisingly plain. She was nervously twirling a piece of her shoulder-length brunette hair, nodding along to whatever her friend was saying. She tugged down at the hem of her more modest blue dress, as if she was hoping it could cover more of her bare skin.

“Oh _there_ they are!” an excited voice shrilled as Felix and Sylvain approached. Unsurprisingly, it was the busty blonde that was calling out to them. “Look Mare-Mare,” she continued, grabbing her friend’s arm, “isn’t he the most gorgeous guy you’ve ever seen?”

Sylvain walked up to her and bowed respectfully. “Ah, the lovely Julianna,” he smirked. “I haven’t gotten you out of my head since we met earlier in the market. May I just say that you and your friend look absolutely divine this evening?”

“Oh Sylvain,” Julianna replied with a small laugh, waving her hand dismissively. “You are just too sweet.” She turned towards her friend. “C’mere Mare-Mare. I told you that a guy this gorgeous just _had_ to have a friend that was an absolute catch!” Her bright green eyes turned towards Felix, who had been keeping his distance. She took a step forward and grabbed his hand, tugging him closer. “And it looks like I was totally right!” she giggled as Felix’s cheeks grew hot.

“Stop it Julie,” the other girl finally piped in. “You’re making him uncomfortable.” She glanced up at Felix, her soft brown eyes meeting his, a sympathetic look on her face.

“Oh right,” Sylvain interjected. “And this is Felix.” He threw an arm around the other’s shoulders.

“Felix?” Julianna echoed, her eyes widening and lips curling into a smile. “Oh my gosh that is just so funny, isn’t it Mare-Mare?” She glanced back towards the other woman who looked as if she wanted to be anywhere else. “Mare-Mare had a cat named Felix when we were kids!” Julianna continued, her voice continuing to ring with laughter. “Of course, he was a grumpy old thing, and I’m sure you’re _nothing_ like that. But that is just _so_ funny!”

Sylvain chuckled along with the blonde while Felix’s cheeks continued to burn. “Well, Felix loves cats, so it sounds like you two have something in common already,” Sylvain laughed, well aware of his friend’s growing fury. He lifted his arm from Felix’s shoulders and patted him on the back. “Now then, shall we go?”

Felix swallowed down the urge to punch Sylvain in the face, cursing him internally for making him suffer through this. He watched as Julianna wrapped her arm around Sylvain’s and the two walked inside the tavern.

“M-My name is actually Maria,” a quiet voice chimed in. “She just calls me Mare-Mare.” The other girl was looking up at Felix, a small smile on her face and the same sympathetic look in her eyes. “I’m sorry about Julie,” Maria continued with a sigh. “She’s always been like that. Just... a bit much. But, it seems like you might know what that’s like.”

“Yeah,” Felix replied, not meeting her gaze. Without another word, he walked past the girl into the tavern. Like everything else in this village, it felt small and dingy, with only a half-dozen lanterns illuminating the space. The few tables inside were already filled with patrons loudly gossiping with each other and there was a crowd standing by the bar. The smell of sweat and stale alcohol permeated throughout the room and Felix again felt a wave of dread and frustration crash over him. He hated everything about this. He hated having to be in this run-down tavern in the middle of nowhere. He hated having to be here with these two strange women. He hated Sylvain for forcing him into this. And he hated his damn father for demanding that he take this leave in the first place.

“Mare-Mare! Felix! Over here!” Julianna’s shrill voice cut through the chatter of the crowd. She and Sylvain were standing by what looked to be the only remaining open table in the building.

Knowing there was no place to hide, Felix trudged towards the table, dodging patrons stumbling between their seats and the crowded bar. He snorted in disgust at their brazen and unabashed intoxication, but he had expected as much considering their surroundings.

Julianna’s eyes lit up as Felix approached the table with Maria following not too far behind him. “So, Sylvain and I were thinking that while we went and got drinks for everyone, you two could sit here and hold this table for us! Sound good?” She giggled and bounced towards the bar, not waiting to hear a reply. Sylvain glanced at Felix, shrugged, and walked after the busty blonde.

Felix heard a soft sigh from behind him. “Oh Julie,” Maria murmured. She snuck past him and slid into the chair closest to the corner, her eyes lowered. “I’m really sorry about this,” she repeated. “I tried telling her that I wasn’t really up for this, but she wouldn’t listen.” She grabbed a piece of her hair and started twirling it around her fingers.

“Sylvain forced me to be here too,” Felix replied, taking the chair across from Maria. He stared at the wall behind her and crossed his arms. The two sat in silence, both refusing to look at the other.

Finally, Maria’s soft voice broke through the tension. “Well, those two seem to be getting along,” she remarked with a small smile.

Felix glanced over his shoulder to see Sylvain and Julianna huddled up close to each other, smiling and laughing as they waited for their drinks. Although he couldn’t hear what they were saying, Felix could tell that Sylvain’s cocky, womanizer persona was out in full force; his arm was wrapped tightly around Julianna’s waist, lips curled into a smirk that didn’t quite reach his eyes. It was a stance Felix had seen far too many times for his liking. He shook his head. “Yeah,” he said, not trying to hide the annoyance in his voice.

Another uncomfortable silence filled the air between them. Maria glanced around uncertainly, still anxiously twirling the same strand of hair. “S-So, umm,” she stammered, looking up to meet Felix’s eyes, “how do you and Sylvain know each other?”

Felix looked back at her, feeling a small sting of guilt as he saw the sincerity in her eyes. He swallowed his frustration, begrudgingly accepting that it was unfair of him to take out his anger with Sylvain on her. “We’ve been friends since we were kids,” he replied, uncrossing his arms.

“That’s the same with me and Julie,” she answered back, her fingers finally freeing her hair from its torment. “We actually didn’t meet back up until just recently though.”

“Yeah?” Felix grunted, momentarily glancing behind again to see what was taking Sylvain so long to return.

“Yeah,” Maria continued. “I, um, I had to move back to the town where I grew up. M-My place in the capitol was destroyed after the coup.” She grabbed her arm and looked towards the floor.

“Oh. Um, that’s...unfortunate.” _How does Sylvain do this,_ Felix wondered, starting to feel lost behind enemy lines again. He suppressed a sigh of relief as he saw Sylvain finally starting to walk back towards their table, drinks in hand, Julianna excitedly bounding up behind him.

“We’re back!” she exclaimed, setting down two glasses of a dark red wine. The blonde slid into the chair next to her friend, placing her elbows on the table, fingers intertwining under her chin.

“Yeah, sorry that took so long,” Sylvain apologized, taking the remaining empty chair next to Felix. “Here, I figured this would be the only thing they had that you would want,” he remarked, handing over a small glass of whiskey to his friend.

Felix grunted in reply and took a sip of his drink, trying to not grimace from the burn of the poorly distilled beverage. Like everything else in town, the alcohol was lower quality than he would have preferred. He closed his eyes as the warmth of the drink started to spread throughout his chest and set his glass down.

“So, what were you two chatting about?” Julianna inquired, looking back and forth between Felix and Maria. “Well,” she continued, not waiting for a reply, “Sylvain was just telling me that you two were _there_ when Garreg Mach fell! Isn’t that just crazy Mare-Mare?”

“Y-Yeah,” Maria answered softly. She opened her mouth to say more, but Julianna continued talking.

“I mean, of course we had _heard_ about what happened, but to actually be there?! Are you both Knights of Seiros?” The blonde paused for a moment, looking over both Felix and Sylvain, a confused frown on her painted red lips. “Well, you don’t really _look_ like you are. No offense,” she giggled.

Sylvain finished a swig of his ale and smirked. “Nah, we’re not Knights; we were there as students, actually.”

“Students?” Julianna repeated. She paused for another moment before her green eyes lit up again. “ _Oh!_ Like from the Officer’s Academy? Wow! Didja hear that Mare-Mare?” She glanced back at her friend who then nodded in agreement. “Well, so then _that_ must mean you’re both some rich nobles then, _right?”_

Felix turned his head to glare at Sylvain. So much for trying to conceal their identities, he thought to himself, brushing away yet another stray piece of hair that had flopped in his face. Silently, he raised his glass back to his lips and took another drink.

“Rich nobles?” Sylvain replied, failing to hide the slight panic in his voice. “Heh heh. Why would you think that?”

It was rare to see Sylvain caught off-guard and despite how much Felix did enjoy watching his friend’s discomfort, he knew that this could become a dangerous line of conversation. He began to interject, but was interrupted by a quiet voice.

“Julie, maybe they don’t want to talk about that,” Maria murmured, resting her hand on her friend’s lap, taking notice of Sylvain’s obvious unease.

Julianna looked at her friend quizzically, then realized what Maria was getting at. “Oh, like they could be _undercover_ or something? Alright, alright. I am _so_ curious though.” She lifted her glass of wine and took a sip, finally offering the table a short moment of peace.

“So, Maria,” Sylvain opened, turning his attention away from the inquisitive blonde, “what did you do before the war started? Julianna mentioned that you used to live in Fhirdiad.”

Maria’s brown eyes widened, clearly not expecting the focus of conversation to shift to her. “W-Well, I actually used to work at one of the libraries, t-the one on the west side of the city.” She started to nervously twist her hair around her fingers again. “But, it was destroyed in the riots after the coup, along with where I was living at the time.”

“Oh Maria, I am so sorry,” Sylvain said, stretching forward to rest his hand on top of hers. “That is just awful.”

Whether or not the sympathy in his voice was genuine, Felix had to admit that Sylvain was definitely better than him at offering comfort. He took another drink, the burning in his throat finally starting to dull and the warmth in his chest spreading up to his cheeks. The table was quiet for a moment as they each sipped their alcohol. A sudden surge of confidence shot through him as Felix realized he had so far been silent throughout the conversation.“So then why are you here?” he asked bluntly, an unexpectedly hostile tone in his voice.

Sylvain whipped his head around to face Felix, his eyebrows furrowed, but before he could accost his friend for his blatant rudeness, Maria’s gentle voice piped up again.

“Actually, we’re refugees,” she answered, lowering her eyes.

“Ugh, don’t say it like _that_!” Julianna interjected, her shrill voice finally returning to the conversation. “We’re _traveling_. That sounds so much better.” She waved her hand dismissively. “We’re originally from Rowe territory,” the blonde continued. “Once Count Rowe let the Dukedom take over the whole region, we left. Too many soldiers. Too much fighting.”

Maria nodded. “We were hoping that the northern parts of Faerghus would be safer because most of the fighting seems to be happening in the south and in the west.”

Felix snorted in disagreement. “Nowhere is safe in Faerghus. If you’re afraid of the fighting, you’re better off in the Alliance.”

“That’s not true,” Sylvain challenged. “We’ve kept the Dukedom pushed back enough that some parts of the eastern territories have been left alone.”

“Yeah, and how much longer do you really think we’re going to be able to keep that up?” Felix retorted, taking another hurried drink of his whiskey. “Because unlike you, I’ve actually been to the places that have seen the worst of it, and it’s only a matter of time until they make it up here.” He shook his head in frustration, the small motion causing a slight wave of dizziness to wash over him. Hand trembling slightly, he set his now-empty glass on the table and crossed his arms.

Sylvain fought back a grin at his friend’s growing intoxication. Despite his insistence to only have the strongest the bar could offer, Felix was notorious for not holding his liquor well, and it had gotten him into trouble plenty of times before. “Anyway,” Sylvain said, turning his focus back towards their companions, “are you both still traveling? Or are you planning on settling down here?”

“I don’t know why anyone would want to settle down here,” Felix grumbled to no one in particular, swiping away another loose hair.

“You know, I’m not sure,” Julianna answered, ignoring his comment. “Maybe going to the Alliance _would_ be nice. I’ve heard that their new leader is an absolute hottie,” she giggled.

“Of course _that’s_ what you’d think of,” Maria sighed, rolling her eyes.

Julianna cocked her head. “Well, it would be nice to have some _actual_ leadership, ya know?”

“I guess I agree,” Maria admitted. “But, the eastern lords are trying their best, I think.”

Felix grunted his disagreement and unfolded his arms. Before he could argue back though, Julianna’s voice cut in.

“Oh! It looks like we could both use a refill!” she exclaimed, reaching across the table to grab Felix’s empty glass, and brandishing her own towards Sylvain. “Sylvain darling, you’ll go with me, right?” Her ruby lips curled into a pout and she stood up from her chair.

“Of course,” he answered, standing up as well. The busty blonde bounced away towards the bar. Sylvain took a moment to look back at Felix, fighting back a smile at his somewhat disheveled appearance and typical bitter expression. Silently wishing Maria the best, he walked after Julianna.

Felix rolled his eyes at his friend and tugged at his shirt collar, angrily wishing that he had fought back harder against Sylvain’s insistence that he dressed up. When he was living at home or attending the Officer’s Academy, he was more accustomed to the formal attire expected of the nobility, but after being in the thick of the war for the past few years, such tight, stuffy clothing felt unnatural and suffocating. His face and body felt hot and the room still had an odd look to it, the dim glow of the lanterns making the color of the wall start to blur. He closed his eyes and took a breath to help regain his focus, the blood roaring in his ears quieting enough that he could hear a small voice speaking. Felix opened his eyes to see Maria staring at him expectantly. “What?” he huffed.

“Oh, sorry,” she said, an amused smile on her lips. “Um, I asked what you thought about the rumors. About Prince Dimitri still being alive.”

Felix froze. The sound of Dimitri’s name caused a thousand unwanted thoughts and feelings to begin swirling around his mind like a furious storm. “What do _I_ think?” he echoed, rage building in his voice. He slammed his hand against the table and stared her down. “I think that the sooner people like you and my damn father accept that he’s dead, the sooner this entire damn country can just _move on!”_

“Hey! That’s enough Felix,” Sylvain interjected sternly as he approached the table. He slid another glass of whiskey to his friend and sat down as Julianna also took her seat. “You can feel however you want about His Highness’s death, but that doesn’t give you the right to yell at Maria,” he continued, shaking his head.

“I wasn’t yelling,” Felix grumbled bitterly, grabbing at the glass in front of him. He quickly swallowed down another mouthful of whiskey, shutting his eyes again as its dull burn again spread through his chest.

“I am so sorry about that,” Sylvain apologized to Maria, a sympathetic look in his eyes. She smiled back at him and nodded knowingly.

“Don’t apologize for me like I’m some child,” Felix snapped, dismissively waving away Sylvain’s words with his free hand. “People need to accept that he’s dead. It doesn’t do us any good to waste our time chasing around a ghost.” He raised his glass back to his lips, hoping the warmth of the alcohol would push away the thoughts about his former friend.

“Ooh, _someone’s_ getting feisty,” Julianna teased, giggling into her palm.

Felix clenched his jaw as a fire spread across his cheeks. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, still clutching his half-full glass. Another wave of hot anger surged through him, and he resolved that Sylvain would pay dearly for making him suffer through this.

“Aww, no need to feel _embarrassed_ ,” the blonde added with another laugh, her voice lacking in sincerity.

An uneasy silence descended on the table as they each continued to drink. Sylvain watched his friend out of the corner of his eye, hoping that Felix wouldn’t do anything rash in response to Julianna’s teasing. Considering how things were going, he was actually starting to regret bringing Felix into this.

Finally, Maria’s quiet voice broke through the tension. “So, are you traveling as well?” she asked, turning towards Sylvain.

Sylvain smiled to himself and silently thanked the goddess for Maria’s awareness and calm demeanor. “Yes, we are,” he nodded. “We’ll be heading out the day after tomorrow, actually.”

“Any idea where you’re going?” Maria replied.

“Not yet,” he answered, shaking his head. “Any suggestions?”

“Well, we were just in this _adorable_ little town about a half day’s travel south of here,” Julianna chimed in.

The three continued their conversation, paying no mind to Felix brooding silently as he drank. He didn’t care about whatever it was they were going on about, and he knew they had no interest in what he had to say anyway. He did his best to tune out their chatter and instead shifted his focus to calming the whirling storm in his mind, swallowing another mouthful of whiskey as unwanted memories stung at him like needles. The warm drink slid down his throat smoothly, Felix now fully accustomed to its slight burn. His hand balled into a fist as Dimitri’s name echoed over and over in his ears. _If it wasn’t for him,_ Felix thought to himself, closing his eyes as more memories crashed over him. His heart started to race. The same screams that haunted his sleep were now attacking his conscious mind. In a slight panic, he threw back the remainder of his drink, desperately wishing its warmth would wash it all away. He opened his eyes to see Maria’s soft brown eyes looking at him with concern.

“Are you alright Felix?” she whispered to him.

“I’m fine,” he mumbled back louder than he wanted to, his words slurring together.

Sylvain looked back over at Felix, who was progressively looking worse as the night went on. His tie was askew and stray pieces of hair clung to his sweat-covered forehead. His eyes were unfocused and cheeks wore the blush of intoxication. Sylvain began to ask how he was feeling, but was interrupted by Felix’s elbow in his side. With another nudge, Felix slid his empty glass towards Sylvain, a silent indicator of his wishes. Sylvain hesitated, his concern for Felix’s uncharacteristic dishevelment growing. He looked across the table at their two companions who were both watching the exchange. He took another deep breath, his desire to not undermine his friend in front of the girls outweighing his concern. “If you’re sure,” Sylvain said under his breath and hesitantly rose from his chair.

“Ooh! Us too!” Julianna squealed, shaking her empty wine glass at him.

“If it’s not too much trouble,” Maria added, gesturing towards her own empty glass.

“I’m on it.” Sylvain nodded and walked away.

As his friend left, Felix looked up to see both women’s eyes on him. “What?” he growled, crossing his arms again, staring back down at the table to avoid meeting their gaze.

Another tense silence filled the space between them momentarily before Julianna perked up excitedly. “You know, we should _totally_ do this again tomorrow night! Wouldn’t that just be _so_ fun?” she asked, looking back and forth between him and Maria.

“M-Maybe just you and Sylvain should go out tomorrow,” Maria replied sheepishly, twirling a piece of hair in her hand.

“What? But why?” Julianna’s voice sounded genuinely surprised as she looked quizzically towards Felix. “You’re having fun, aren’t you Felix? Isn’t this _fun?”_

Thankfully, Sylvain returned to the table before Felix could answer. “Alright, here we are,” he said, passing out the new round of drinks.

Wordlessly, Felix gripped his glass and downed another gulp, trying to do whatever he could to drown out both the blonde’s voice and the myriad of voices now relentlessly echoing in his mind. He kept his eyes on the table as the conversation between the other three lit back up again. His presence clearly wasn’t needed, he realized, feeling simultaneously relieved and a little hurt. He gave up on trying to follow the conversation, and instead tried to focus on stopping the pounding in his chest. He fought each sting of memory with his drink, desperate for it to wash it all away.

An unknown amount of time passed until one more sip of whiskey finally calmed the storm. Felix’s once-racing thoughts now trudged through his mind like they were moving through mud. He had finally defeated the memories, at least for the night. He breathed an audible sigh of relief. Felix lifted his head, preparing himself to reenter the conversation, but it had become difficult for him to think clearly. He felt dizzy and the world had an uncomfortable blur to it as he struggled to get his eyes to focus. His hand trembled as he lifted his glass back to his lips, surprising himself with how little was left in it.

A sudden, high-pitched yawn grated against Felix’s ears. He turned his head towards its source, the poor lighting distorting the blonde’s appearance. “Oh _excuse_ me,” Julianna apologized loudly, waving her hand. “Well, I guess it _is_ rather late. We should be getting to bed soon, right Mare-Mare?”

Maria nodded in reply, then added, “Maybe we’ll run into each other tomorrow.”

“Oh I _certainly_ hope so!” Julianna laughed, rising from her chair.

“We’ll have to see what fate has in store for us,” Sylvain replied with a smirk. “But I would love to see you again.” He stood up from the table and reached for Julianna’s hand, bringing it to his lips with a wink. The blonde giggled loudly and started towards the exit, Maria following close behind. “Ready to go?” Sylvain asked, looking down at Felix.

For the first time since they had arrived, Felix stood up from his chair. The world shifted and he quickly gripped the table to help steady himself, legs trembling slightly. He took a deep breath and released the table, temporarily finding his balance. “Sure,” he answered slowly, pushing past Sylvain who was watching him with an amused smile.

Felix found himself standing outside of the tavern, surprised by the chill of the night. A light breeze brushed over his cheeks, providing a gentle cool to the fire in his body. He looked around, puzzled by the unfamiliar landscape. He knew their inn had to be somewhere nearby though; it didn’t take them long to walk here.

Out of Felix’s view, Sylvain approached the two women waiting for him. “Thank you again for a wonderful evening,” he said, bowing respectfully. “I hate to cut this short, but...” He glanced over his shoulder to see Felix unsteadily walking away from the tavern in the opposite direction of the inn.

Maria giggled and looped her arm around her friend’s to help steady her. “You should probably go catch up with him,” she said with a sympathetic smile. “Come on Julie. Let’s go home.” She started to walk away, tugging Julianna along with her, who was frantically waving a good-bye to Sylvain.

Sylvain waited until they turned out of view, then whipped around to look for Felix. Thankfully, he hadn’t managed to get too far away. Sylvain half-jogged up to his staggering friend and slid an arm around his waist, grabbing one of Felix’s arms and throwing it over his shoulder.

“I don’t need your help,” Felix grumbled, his words slurring together.

“I know, I know. Just humor me, alright?” Sylvain slowly turned them towards the correct direction of the inn and started walking, supporting Felix’s weight each time he stumbled.

“I’m fine,” Felix reiterated. They walked along the cobblestone path in silence, each slow step now feeling like a tremendous effort. His head was starting to feel heavy and he couldn’t stop his eyes from fluttering closed.

“You know,” Sylvain began, tilting his head up to look at the stars. “This reminds me of your birthday last year. Except, Ingrid isn’t here to tell me off for being a bad influence on you.” He chuckled briefly, then his voice took on a more somber tone. “I miss you guys. It’s been so long since the three of us got together.” The pair kept walking slowly down the road, Sylvain now supporting most of Felix’s weight. “I know you don’t want to be here,” he continued, “but, I’m glad that I get to be here with you.” He paused again and took a deep breath. “I’m worried about you, Felix. We all are. After what happened in Kiltermon…” His voice trailed off. They were in front of the inn. “You know you can talk to me, right?” Sylvain concluded, knowing he wouldn’t get a reply. He glanced down at his companion with a small smile, softly chuckling at the other’s drooping mess of hair as he helped Felix inside.


	2. Separated

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warnings: Alcohol Use, Minor Use of Graphic Imagery, Implied Sexual Content

Faded rays of late morning sunlight crept through the thin curtain to cast over Felix’s closed eyes, gently trying to prod him awake. With an indistinct grumble, he turned away from the window, not ready to face the world. His sleep had been dreamless, but restless, and exhaustion still clung to his body.

Sylvain glanced up from his book at the sound of the other’s stirring. Feeling generally unaffected by the previous night’s affair, he was sitting patiently at the scratched table in the corner, waiting for his companion to finally awaken. He didn’t want to leave Felix alone, but he felt his stomach growl again in protest. He swallowed down his growing hunger and tried to turn his attention back to his reading. 

Moments later he heard a soft rapping at the door. He looked over towards Felix, who thankfully appeared undisturbed by the sound. Sylvain walked to the door and cracked it open. It was the innkeeper’s wife; an elderly woman with short silver curls and a warm smile, she seemed to be wholly in charge of the inn’s affairs. “You have a guest,” she said softly.

Puzzled, he turned back again to check on Felix, who still hadn’t moved, his long mess of dark hair splayed out over his pillow. Sylvain faced the innkeeper’s wife and nodded, slipping out of the room and shutting the door slowly.

“It seems you boys had a fun night,” the old woman remarked amusedly once they had walked far enough away from the room. “I know you didn’t get back until quite late.”

“Yeah it was...fun,” Sylvain replied, unsure if he was telling the truth. They rounded the corner to the inn’s front desk, where a young woman with short brown hair was waiting.

“Oh! Sylvain!” Maria greeted him with a smile and a wave. With a chuckle, the innkeeper’s wife walked back behind the desk and through a door to give the two some privacy.

“Maria!” he grinned back, feeling somewhat relieved to see her instead of her bubbly blonde companion.

“I see you’re feeling well,” she said, a knowing tone in her voice. “That’s good.”

“Yeah. I’m doing just fine,” Sylvain nodded.

“Julie’s still feeling a bit out of it,” Maria continued, looking to the side. She laughed softly as she thought of her friend and then turned back towards Sylvain. “I brought these for you,” she added, holding out a small basket of sweet buns.

Surprised, Sylvain reached for the basket, noticing with a grin that the buns were still warm. His stomach growled again in anticipation. “Wow, thank you. That is so sweet of you.”

A slight blush spread over Maria’s cheeks. “I-I was worried Felix might not be feeling too well, so I was hoping they could help. I was in town earlier for my morning cup of tea and saw this little bakery not too far from where you said you were staying, so I just thought I’d bring something over.”

“You really are too kind.” Sylvain shook his head, smiling at the girl’s considerate gift. “I know Felix will appreciate this,” he lied.

Maria’s blush deepened and she nervously looked towards the floor. “Well, I should probably get going. Oh, and Julie wanted me to tell you that she would  _ love _ to have dinner with you tonight, so if you’re interested, there _ is _ a restaurant near our inn on the other side of town.”

He thought for a moment and shrugged. Who was he to turn down a dinner date with a beautiful woman? It’s not like he really had anything else planned for the day. “Okay, that sounds great. Tell her I’ll pick her up at five.”

Maria smiled and looked at Sylvain with her thoughtful brown eyes. “I will. I hope you both have fun.” She bowed her head, turned, and started to walk towards the exit.

“Wait!” Sylvain called out. Maria stopped and turned back around to face him. “If you’re going to be hanging around town later today, maybe I can try to convince Felix to meet up with you?”

Another small blush dusted her cheeks. “Oh, no, I wouldn’t want to trouble him with something like that,” Maria replied with a small smile. “I’ll be fine. Really. I still have some shopping to do, and I should probably take some time to figure out our next destination. Don’t worry about me.” She nodded her head and left the inn.

Sylvain looked down at the basket he was holding.  _ The poor girl _ , he thought with a sigh, well aware that his friend wouldn’t appreciate the unexpected act of kindness. He started back towards their room, his pace quickening as another pang of hunger surged through him. He slid through their door as quietly as possible, relieved to see that Felix was undisturbed. Sylvain returned to his chair, setting down the sweet buns on the table in front of him, excitedly grabbing one and taking a bite, its warm sweetness finally sating his hunger. He returned to reading, happily munching on his breakfast.

With another small grumble, Felix rolled back over to his other side, a sickly sweet smell now assaulting his senses. He was greeted again by the gentle light from the window which felt too bright even to his closed eyes. He groaned softly. The stimuli had activated a throbbing ache behind his eyes. In a final attempt to avoid reality, he turned away from the window again, and threw the comforter over his head, hoping it would offer him some protection from the outside world.

Shaking his head, Sylvain watched his companion’s movements with an amused smile. “I know you’re awake Felix,” he said, keeping his voice low.

The sudden sound of Sylvain’s words roared in his ears and Felix clenched his pillow tighter as the noise bounced through his head. He realized with a frown that it was unlikely he would be given the privilege of falling back asleep if Sylvain was there to disturb him. “Stop talking,” Felix murmured into his pillow, his voice barely audible.

“Come on,” Sylvain replied, “it’s the middle of the day. You’ve slept long enough.”

“No, I haven’t,” Felix protested. He groaned again. Talking was making his headache flare.

Sylvain sighed and rose from his chair, taking a few steps towards Felix’s bed. “I know you always get like this,” he said, shaking his head, “but you’re not going to feel any better until you at least have some water, and maybe something to eat. Look, I even put out some water for you, so it’s not like you have to get up.” He gestured towards the small glass sitting on the table next to Felix’s bed.

“Go away,” Felix growled, finally opening his eyes. He closed them immediately, the faded light from the window feeling like the sun itself was inside the room. He took a deep breath and opened them again, instinctually squinting at the brightness.

“No. You need to get up.” Sylvain’s tone was becoming increasingly irritated. He had gone through this same routine with him many times before, and Felix’s unrelenting stubbornness always made it a challenge.

Felix looked over the side of the bed and saw his undershirt in a crumpled heap on the floor. Not knowing when or how it had been removed, he grabbed the garment and flung it over his shoulder at Sylvain. “I said go away,” he repeated.

Sylvain batted away Felix’s feeble attack and threw up his hands in exasperation. “Alright, fine. If you want to be like that.” He could feel his frustration growing, but he knew that nothing good would come out of him continuing to argue. “I’m going out then. I don’t want to just sit around waiting for you, so I’m going to head into town for a bit. I’ll bring you back some food, so you’d better be up by the time I get back.” Without waiting for a reply, Sylvain turned and left the room.

Felix breathed a sigh of relief at the sound of the door closing. The annoyance was gone and now he could finally fall back asleep. No matter what he tried though, he couldn’t hide from the light of the window or the unknown sweet scent threatening to make him gag. His head was still pounding. With a groan, he turned over and stretched his hand out, fingers brushing over cold glass. Trying to exert as little energy as possible, Felix slowly sat up and threw back some stray pieces of hair that had fallen over his eyes. He reached for the glass of water and took a sip, its icy coldness washing over the previous night’s burn. Admittedly, it did make him feel a bit better. He quickly downed the rest of the glass, set it back on the table, and flopped back over onto his back, covering his eyes with his hand. With the water’s refreshing coolness challenging the overwhelming force of his hangover, he rolled onto his side and fell back into a restless sleep.

*****

There was a knock on the door. Felix sighed and sat up from the bed. He had been lying there awake for some time, only able to catch a little more sleep before his headache had woken him back up.

Sylvain threw open the door with an unexpected force. When he walked inside, he was genuinely surprised to see Felix conscious and almost out of bed. “You’re up,” he remarked, sounding almost impressed.

“Yeah,” Felix answered, staring down his companion through narrowed eyes. He shook his head to toss his hair back over his shoulders and stood up. Enough time had passed that he almost felt okay, his headache and general exhaustion the only lingering remnants of the night before.

“I brought you some food,” Sylvain said, placing a bag on the table next to the half-empty basket of sweet buns. He watched wordlessly as Felix slowly trudged around the room, finally getting himself ready for the day. Or, at least what was left of the day. The mid-afternoon sun shone through the window, illuminating the room with its warm glow.

“What the hell is that?” Felix snapped suddenly, gesturing at the basket on the table. At least now he knew what the source of the mysterious sweet smell was. His awareness of it seemed to make the scent even more prevalent though, and he could feel a sick nausea start to creep up his throat.

“Oh, Maria brought that over earlier today,” Sylvain answered. “It was kinda cute, actually. She said she got them for you because she was worried you wouldn’t be feeling well.”

“Well, get them out of here,” Felix growled. “You know I don’t like sweet things. The smell is going to make me sick.” His stomach churned anxiously, still feeling hypersensitive to any stimuli.

“Okay, fine,” Sylvain sighed, unsurprised at his friend’s complete dismissal of Maria’s kindness. He picked up the basket off the table and left the room, hoping that Felix’s mood would start to improve, even a little, while he was gone.

Felix watched his friend leave, then turned around to finish getting dressed. “Damn it,” he grimaced as another sting of pain throbbed behind his eyes. The dull ache in his head was a persistent reminder of his foolishness from the night before, and he only grew more furious with himself each time it hurt. He wanted to blame Sylvain for forcing him to go out with him, and he wanted to blame those girls for bringing up all those unwanted memories, but ultimately, he knew that he only had himself to blame. But the memories were too raw, too real, and he tried to convince himself that it justified his behavior. He sighed and reached back to pull up his hair as Sylvain returned to the room.

“Well, the innkeeper’s wife was happy with the offering,” he joked with a smile. “But seriously, if you do see Maria, you should at least thank her. It’s not like she knew you hate sweets.”

“Why did she even bother in the first place?” Felix grumbled, sitting down to finally start eating. Now that the source of his nausea had gone away, his stomach was roaring with hunger. He unwrapped the skewers Sylvain had brought him and eagerly took a bite.

Sylvain walked over to sit at the end of his bed so they could talk while Felix ate. “You really are hopeless, you know?” He shook his head in disbelief. “She did it because she  _ likes  _ you,” he stressed.

“Why?” Felix mumbled back, his mouth full. 

“You know honestly, I’m not sure, considering how you acted last night,” Sylvain answered, intentionally trying to keep his tone even.

Felix swallowed and looked towards Sylvain. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he retorted bitterly, already knowing that they both knew the answer to the question.

“You just seemed...different last night,” Sylvain replied cautiously; he knew how important it was for him to choose his words carefully. “I mean, we’ve gone out together before, so I’m used to how you can get. But it just felt different this time.”

“Yeah?” Felix grunted in reply. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

“Well, after a certain point you just stopped talking.” Sylvain paused for a moment before continuing, “And you were throwing back shots faster than normal, almost like you were, I don’t know, panic drinking or something?” _ Okay, maybe that was too blunt _ , he thought as soon as he was finished speaking, wanting to smack himself in the forehead.

_ ‘Panic drinking?’ _ Felix shook his head angrily as another storm of anxious thoughts began to thunder in his mind. He took another bite of food before deciding to reply. “I’m fine,” he asserted, fury rising in his voice as he slowly enunciated each word.

“I know you’re not,” Sylvain answered sincerely, staring at him with concern in his eyes.

“You don’t know anything!” Felix bellowed back, quickly standing up from the table and starting towards the door.

Immediately, Sylvain rose from the bed and rushed over to block him. “No. I’m not letting you run away.”

“Move!” Felix demanded furiously, desperately trying to push him aside.

“No,” Sylvain replied. He crossed his arms. “Not until you talk to me.”

Felix turned away from him, trying to ignore the growing ferocity of the incoming storm, his heart and thoughts racing. “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he insisted, his hot fury morphing into a stable rage that clung to his words.

With a sigh, Sylvain uncrossed his arms and took a step towards Felix. “I know I don’t,” he admitted softly. “No one does. Because you refuse to talk to anyone about what happened.”

Felix whipped back around and glared up at him. “What, did my old man put you up to this?” he huffed.

“Yeah, he did. He asked me to go on leave with you,” Sylvain replied. “But I wanted to come anyway. Do you know how worried I was when I got the message from him that you were hospitalized?” His words rung with concerned frustration. “I had to beg my father to let me leave my post so I could go see you.” His eyes turned towards the floor. “You almost died.”

Felix clenched his jaw. His breathing felt too fast, and his heart was still pounding. He closed his eyes, trying to regain control of his body. “You don’t understand.” 

“No, I don’t,” Sylvain shot back, crossing his arms again. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out. You’re not the kind of guy that goes out on a suicide mission because you made a bad call.”

Felix was starting to feel lightheaded, screams ringing in his ears. The panic rising in his chest felt uncontrollable. “You weren’t there,” he breathed, barely audible. The image of a young boy shot into his mind. Like he did most nights now, he heard the boy’s furious sobs, another innocent soul corrupted by the cruelty of the world.

“What?” Sylvain’s voice cut through the raging storm.

Felix balled his hand into a fist. He was done. No more voices, no more screaming. “I said you weren’t there!” he shouted, furiously slamming his fist into the wall. “So just leave me  _ alone _ !” Without waiting for a reply, he roughly pushed past Sylvain and through the door. 

He needed to be anywhere but there. Felix’s chest ached and his body felt sore from how tense he was. He rushed out of the inn, desperately trying to regain his composure. He didn’t know where he was going and he didn’t care. All he could focus on was stopping the panic swirling in his mind.

Taking a few deep breaths, Felix managed to temporarily suppress the overwhelming emotion, knowing full well that it would haunt him again that night. His feet had instinctively brought him back to the clearing in the nearby forest where he had trained the previous day. He reached down to grip his sword, the familiar sensation providing him a small amount of comfort. “They wouldn’t understand,” he whispered to himself, closing his eyes and taking another deep breath. Releasing his sword, Felix started to walk deeper into the forest. The shade of the large trees blocked out the warmth of the evening sun, the light breeze bringing a refreshing chill. The solitude was nice, but he also knew of the potential danger of him being out here alone. Even though they were away from where most of the fighting was taking place, there was always still the chance that an enemy could be lurking about. With that in mind, he turned and started back towards the town, still not quite sure what to do with himself. He certainly didn’t want to go back to the inn where Sylvain could be waiting to continue his interrogation, but Felix wasn’t sure what, if anything, would be of interest to him in this dingy little village.

*****

Strolling through the market streets, Felix tried his best to blend in with the crowd. Sylvain could have also left the inn and be wandering around town as well, and Felix wanted to avoid him at all costs. He walked past food stalls and tea shops, none of which looked particularly desirable, and past artisans and merchants, selling what he could only expect to be low quality goods, until he heard the familiar clang of metal on metal. Intrigued, he followed the noise to a blacksmith’s shop. Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t much to look at, but there were some wares on display. He looked them over, scrutinizing their quality with a trained eye. The metal had some impurities, but the overall craftsmanship was passable.

“Felix?” A sudden, but soft voice rang out from behind him. Startled, Felix whipped around to see Maria standing at the entrance to the blacksmith’s. “I thought that was you,” she said, smiling.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, taking a step towards the small brunette to look over her shoulder. It didn’t look like Sylvain was with her, he realized, feeling relieved.

“Oh, I’m actually here to pick up my sword,” she answered, her brown eyes lighting up. “I had dropped it off earlier for some maintenance.”

“Your sword?” Felix echoed, feeling genuinely surprised. Nothing about her led him to believe that she would actually have experience with any kind of weapon.

Maria nodded and walked towards the blacksmith who had stopped what he was doing when she entered the store. She gave him a handful of gold and he passed her what Felix assumed to be her sword. She came back to where Felix was standing and he couldn’t stop himself from inspecting the weapon in her hands. Still sheathed, he could only look over the details of the hilt; oddly enough, it bore some stylistic resemblance to what he thought was Imperial craftsmanship. Noticing his inquisitive stare, Maria covered the hilt with her hand and slid on the sword’s belt.

“Why do you have that?” Felix questioned, still trying to process what he had seen.

With a light chuckle at his sincere confusion, Maria turned to leave the blacksmith’s, waving her hand at Felix to invite him to join her. Not knowing what else to do, he followed behind her back into the crowded market’s main street. “Sorry, I just thought it could get loud in there,” she apologized, turning back to face him. Felix shrugged. He didn’t care how loud it was, he just wanted an answer. “Why don’t we get a cup of tea?” she suggested. “Then we can talk.”

“Alright,” he nodded, driven solely by curiosity. The small brunette led him down the road to one of the tea shops he had passed by earlier.

“You can sit, and I’ll bring us the tea,” Maria offered. She gestured towards one of the few tables sitting outside of the shop. “What kind do you like?”

“I don’t really care. Something spiced, I guess,” he answered bluntly, taking a seat at the table she had indicated. Maria nodded and walked inside. Felix crossed his arms while he waited, still trying to puzzle out what he’d seen. Smirking to himself, he could almost hear Ingrid scolding him for what she would call a ‘misogynistic judgment.’ It wasn’t that he thought women couldn’t fight; he just couldn’t understand why this particular girl needed to carry a sword.

Maria approached the table, a mid-sized teapot with steam coming out its spout in one hand, and two cheap ceramic teacups looped around the fingers of the other. “I hope this is okay,” she said, setting a cup in front of him. She set hers in front of her seat and poured them both full with a light amber tea.

As she stared at him across the table, Felix suddenly realized how they would appear to an onlooker. He coughed nervously, now feeling very aware of himself. He just wanted to know about her sword, and somehow he had ended up on what he assumed Sylvain would consider to be a ‘date.’ “So…” He looked down at his tea to avoid meeting her eyes.

“Right,” Maria nodded. “You were curious about my sword.” Her small fingers wrapped around her teacup, steam still billowing from the top. “My fiancé gave it to me.” She looked down, a sad smile stretching across her lips.

“Yeah?” Felix replied, uncomfortably shifting in his chair.

Maria looked back up at him, brown eyes glowing brighter. “Yeah, it’s funny actually,” she continued. “He insisted on buying me one in case anything happened when I was at work. We had just moved to Fhirdiad, and he was still a bit nervous about me working near the city center.” She shook her head with an amused smile. “Not that I ever expected much to happen working in a library. That’s not really a place people go to cause trouble.” She chuckled and brought her cup to her lips, gently blowing on the hot tea and taking a sip. 

Felix nodded his head; although a little odd, he found her reasoning acceptable. “So, do you actually know how to use it?” he asked.

“Uh-huh,” Maria answered, setting her cup back down. “My fiancé and I would practice together almost daily when he was still in Fhirdiad. He wanted to make sure I could protect myself before he left.”

“He served in the Kingdom army, right?” Felix tried a sip of his tea and was pleasantly surprised by the warm spice that lit up his mouth. 

“Yes,” she nodded in reply. “He wouldn’t get to come home often, but when he did, we always practiced our sword fighting.” She looked away wistfully. “It wasn’t really about my technique by that point, I guess; it was just nice to be together. The way it felt fighting beside him...I think that’s what I miss the most.”

“Yeah,” Felix said, not sure how to reply. He really wasn’t good with this kind of thing. He drank more of his tea while he waited for the brunette to continue.

Maria shook her head, “I’m sorry. You probably don’t want to listen to me reminiscing.” She took a sip of tea. “But that’s why I have this sword. Not that I’d be much good with it nowadays,” she admitted with a sigh. “I haven’t gotten to practice in quite a while.”

Now this was something he knew more about. Felix closed his eyes, taking a moment to internally debate whether or not to offer to train with the girl. He really hated to waste his time with anyone less skilled than him, but he was also still trying to avoid Sylvain. It’s not like he had anything better to do. He opened his eyes, meeting Maria’s. “We could go train together. I, uh, found a good place for it yesterday.”

“Really?” She didn’t hide the excitement in her voice. She paused for a moment then continued in a more even tone, “No, it’s okay. You don’t have to. I’m not that good. I’d probably only get in your way.” Maria reached for a piece of her hair and began to twirl it around her fingers self-consciously.

“It’s fine,” he replied casually, unsure why she was being difficult. “Do you want to or not?”

Maria looked down and smiled. “Sure. That would be great.”

*****

“It’s just not like him to do something that reckless,” Sylvain sighed, glancing around the room. He spotted his clothes in a crumpled heap next to the bed and stood up to slide his pants back on.

“Come on Sylvain, darling,” Julianna whined, walking up to him and wrapping her arms around his bare torso. “All you did was talk about Felix during dinner. And now you’re back to it?” She looked up at him with her bright green eyes, her ruby lips curled into a pout.

He shook his head. “I’m sorry. You’re right.”

Julianna released him and sauntered over to the dresser, pulling open a drawer. “I know you’re worried,” she said, sliding on a sheer nightgown that barely contained her large breasts. “But can we just forget about it for the rest of the night? Please?”

“Yes. I’m sorry,” Sylvain apologized again. He threw his undershirt back on and ran his fingers through his tangled hair. “Thank you for listening though.” He knew he’d never see this woman again, so it didn’t bother him to use her for some emotional, and physical, satisfaction.

“Trust me, I know how difficult friends can be sometimes,” Julianna replied, hopping up onto the dresser. “But, I’d rather talk about  _ you _ . We can take some time to chat, have a drink.” She smiled at him coyly. “And maybe go another round? The night is young.”

“Yeah, I can work with that.” Sylvain smirked back at her. “And you’re sure it’s okay with Maria that I’m here?”

“It’s  _ fine _ ,” Julianna stressed, jumping off the dresser to slide past him. She reached into her suitcase and pulled out a bottle of wine. “I don’t have any glasses,” she admitted, “but hopefully you don’t mind.” She stretched out the unopened bottle towards him, its dark red liquid sloshing from the motion.

Sylvain took it from her hands and pulled on the cork, a little surprised at how easily it popped open. “I don’t mind,” he reassured her with a grin. He offered it back to her.

Julianna shook her head. “You go ahead. You got it open after all.” She turned and jumped back on top of the dresser.

“Oh. Alright,” Sylvain shrugged, setting the bottle to his lips. He took a quick swig, struggling a bit to swallow the somewhat harsh liquid inside. He didn’t normally drink wine, but this particular kind seemed to be especially rough. He shook his head to fight away the bad taste, a weird numbness now creeping into his throat. Wordlessly, he stretched the wine bottle back out to Julianna, hoping that she hadn’t noticed his reaction. She grabbed the bottle and sat it down next to her on the dresser, staring at him. There was a strange coldness in her green eyes but Sylvain was too focused on himself to even notice. He could feel the numbness spreading down into his chest and he was having trouble getting his eyes to focus. His limbs started to feel heavy, a blurry dizziness overtaking his consciousness. _ What the  _ hell _ is happening to me _ , he thought desperately. With tremendous effort, he lifted his head to look at the woman sitting across from him. She was staring at him expectantly, a sinister smile stretched across her ruby lips. “Wha...you...what did...you do to me?” he croaked out weakly. It felt impossible to speak. Sylvain summoned as much energy as he could muster and tried to take a step towards her. He quickly collapsed to the floor, his legs unable to bear his weight any longer. Darkness started to creep into his vision. Face pressed against the floor, his entire body limp, he saw a pair of feet walk into his line of sight. Julianna was standing over him. As the encroaching darkness finally overtook him, the last thing Sylvain heard was the jingle of her laughter.

*****

“Alright, I think that’s enough,” Maria panted, stepping away from Felix. The sun had set some time ago and the brightness of the full moon now illuminated the clearing in the forest where they were training. 

“Indeed,” Felix nodded, also feeling a little out of breath. He returned his sword to its sheath as Maria did the same. “Well, it’s clear that you haven’t trained in a while,” he stated plainly, walking over to a fallen tree and taking a seat. “But, you do seem to understand basic techniques.” Although he may not have gained much from their practice, he did realize that it felt a little good to teach someone else.

Maria walked over and sat beside him. “Well, I appreciate all of your help,” she smiled. “I feel like I learned a lot.”

“Even if you are traveling, you shouldn’t slack off on your training,” he cautioned.

“You sound like my fiancé,” she chuckled. She shifted to face him, her big brown eyes meeting his. “This was really nice though,” she said softly. “I know it’s silly, but it almost felt like I was training with him again.” Maria looked away sheepishly as an uncomfortable blush spread across Felix’s cheeks.

“Yeah, well, I’m not your fiancé,” he retorted, looking straight ahead into the open clearing.

“Oh, I know,” she chirped back, a blush on her cheeks as well. “But this was nice.” She leaned towards him and gently rested her head on his shoulder. “Thank you.”

Felix instinctually stiffened at the sudden weight; he was back behind enemy lines again. “Right,” he said, quickly rising to his feet. He stretched his back, wanting to look anywhere but at her.

“Well, umm…” Felix turned back around to face Maria. She was looking down at her hands. “I-I’m guessing that Sylvain is still with Julie in our room, so I’m not sure if I should go back there yet.”

_ So that’s where he is _ . Felix rolled his eyes at his friend’s predictability. “Yeah?” he replied, not really sure what she expected him to do about her predicament.

“I-I do have this bottle of wine with me,” Maria offered, reaching behind the log to where she had placed her bag when they first arrived at the clearing. “Julie had asked me to go into town to pick it up for her and Sylvain, but I don’t think she’d mind if we had some.” Looking up at Felix with sincerity shining in her eyes, she gently patted the spot next to her on the log where he had been sitting moments before.

He shrugged and sat down, not knowing what else he could do. She handed him an unmarked bottle of a dark red liquid. He turned the bottle around in his hands, not sure what exactly he was looking for. Felix shrugged again and effortlessly pulled out the cork. He offered the open bottle back to Maria, who shook her head.

“You go ahead. You got it open.” She laughed softly.

He brought the bottle to his lips and froze. The smell of alcohol rushed into his nose and he was hit all at once with a reminder of the pain he had gone through earlier that day. He felt his stomach turn and he lowered the bottle. “Actually, I think I’m good,” he said, swallowing down a wave of nausea. He hastily held it out for her to take back.

“O-Oh! Really?” Maria sounded surprised. She grabbed the bottle and cork from his hands. “You’re sure?” she asked, holding the cork over the bottle’s mouth.

“Yeah,” Felix choked out. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm his stomach.

“Oh, okay,” she replied, sealing the bottle and returning it to her bag. She sounded strangely disappointed, but Felix didn’t care enough to ask her why.

They sat in silence, the quiet rustling of the night filling the air. A gust of wind blew past them, and he felt Maria shiver next to him. “We should probably head back,” he suggested, rising to his feet again. He began walking in the direction of town, assuming she would start to follow behind.

“Um, Felix,” Maria began, nervously twirling a piece of her hair.

He looked over his shoulder back at her and hesitated to let her catch up to him. “What?” he asked.

“W-Well, Sylvain is probably still with Julie... a-and I don’t want to bother them, so…umm...” Her voice trailed off and she looked down at her feet.

“What?” Felix asked shortly, not sure why the girl had started to act so weirdly.

“C-Could I...stay with you?” Her cheeks reddened.

“Why?” he retorted hastily, eyebrows furrowed, unsure what would lead her to believe he would be interested in something like that. “Don’t you have your own place to sleep?”

“Oh! W-Well, yes,” Maria squeaked back, her blush deepening and her fingers twirling her hair even faster. “I-I just thought—”

“Sylvain will be leaving soon anyway,” Felix continued. “So you should probably just head back to your own room.” His pace quickened, eager to get away from the conversation.

They walked on in an uncomfortable silence before Maria paused suddenly. “W-Well, my place is that way.” She gestured over her shoulder.

Felix turned to face her. “Alright. Good night then.” He nodded and began to turn away again, but was stopped by a hand grabbing his.

Maria looked up at him with her sincere brown eyes, cheeks a light pink, either from embarrassment or the cold. “I-I’m sorry,” she said softly, her hand still holding his. “I didn’t mean to misinterpret things.” She sighed, a faint smile on her lips. “I did have a really nice time though, so, thank you.” She took another step towards him. Getting on her toes, she leaned in and kissed his cheek. She stepped away and looked down sheepishly, waiting for his reaction.

Felix stared at her, his eyes wide and cheeks burning uncomfortably. He freed his hand from hers and crossed his arms defensively. “R-Right,” he sputtered out and quickly turned on his heel, walking swiftly back to the inn. Once he was safely away from the woman, he sighed and shook his head. “What the hell was that,” he muttered under his breath, grabbing the door handle of the inn’s entrance and throwing it open.

*****

A door slammed. The sound of it was just enough to jostle Sylvain’s consciousness. His mind started to finally awaken, trying to push through the darkness that had overtaken him. It took everything in him to regain his senses, but he managed to break through the fog enough to start to gain some awareness of his surroundings. He tried to open his eyes, but even that was too much effort. His body felt incredibly weak, still very much under the effects of the poison. He wouldn’t have been able to move anyway, he realized, feeling rope tightly bound around his wrists and ankles. He groaned feebly, the sound muffled by the fabric tied around his mouth. Sylvain tried again to open his eyes. The light was overwhelming and everything was a blur of color. It was impossible for him to discern where he was as his eyes fluttered open and shut in protest to the effort. _I need to_ _focus_ , he thought, demanding his body complied. He paused for a moment, then opened his eyes again.

The room was still a hazy blur, but his eyes had at least adjusted to the light. It didn’t take him long to realize where he was; he had collapsed only a few feet away. Now, he was sitting up against the wall of Julianna’s bedroom. Sylvain summoned the energy to lift his head just slightly to see two blurs in front him. At first their voices sounded muffled and far away, but as he strained to listen in on what they were saying, the sounds gained some clarity.

“So? Where is he?” Julianna’s unmistakably shrill voice asked.

“I didn’t get him,” another voice shot back. As he had expected, it sounded like Maria, but he couldn’t help but feel surprised by the uncharacteristic hostility in her voice. 

_ Who are they talking about? Felix?  _ Sylvain wondered.

“What do you mean you couldn’t get him?” Julianna sounded angry. “I already arranged for our transport out of here  _ tonight _ .”

“Look, I did everything you told me to.” Maria’s voice dripped with frustration. “I can’t help that the guy’s a moron. I swear, it’s like he’s never been with a woman in his life.”

_ Yeah, that’s definitely Felix they’re talking about,  _ Sylvain half-smirked to himself.

“Oh, I am  _ so _ not surprised by that,” Julianna laughed, an icy cruelty ringing in her tone. “But regardless, guys usually fall all over your sweet, demure routine,  _ Mare-Mare _ . What happened?”

“Don’t you ever call me that when we’re not on a job,” Maria hissed. She shook her head. “The shit I put up with trying to work that idiot.”

“That bad, huh?” Julianna frowned. She walked up behind Maria and slid her arms around her hips, setting her chin on Maria’s shoulder.

“It was  _ unbelievably _ frustrating. He had the damn bottle to his lips, about to take a drink, then he stops and says, ‘actually I’m good, I don’t want it,’” Maria growled, poorly imitating Felix’s voice.

_ So, she tried to poison him too.  _ Sylvain was starting to put some of the pieces together. What he couldn’t understand though was  _ why _ .

“Ugh. What an ass,” Julianna sympathized, nuzzling into Maria’s neck.

“I swear,” Maria started to laugh. “He practically ran away from me when I asked to stay the night with him.”

Julianna released her waist and settled on holding Maria’s hand. “Well, he probably would’ve been absolutely  _ dismal _ in bed,” she giggled. “So maybe you lucked out.”

_ Now that’s just mean, _ Sylvain frowned, feeling a sting of pity towards his friend.  _ But, probably true _ .

“Looks like you had some fun though,” Maria remarked, gesturing towards Sylvain.

Julianna laughed again. “Hah! Hardly. But, at least I got him.”

_ Okay, ouch,  _ Sylvain winced. He took pride in his performance, and it hurt to be mocked so blatantly.

Maria started to walk over where he was sitting. He quickly closed his eyes and dropped his head again, hoping she wouldn’t notice that he was awake. “Well, you always have the easier job.” He could hear Maria crouch down in front of him and she gripped his chin, tilting it up towards her. “You get the  _ really _ dumb ones,” she sneered to his face. He heard her walk away from him and he carefully opened one eye to see that their focus was no longer on him.

“I can’t help that I have the  _ assets _ for it,” Julianna replied matter-of-factly, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “He was just as easy as all the other jerk womanizers who think they’re so  _ smooth _ and  _ clever _ .” Sylvain could hear the eyeroll in her voice. “Oh, and I already went to their inn, grabbed all his things, and returned his key, so it won’t be suspicious when he doesn’t come back.”

“You really think his friend  _ won’t _ be suspicious?” Maria asked.

“Apparently they got in some big fight before he came over here.” Julianna shrugged. “And if his friend  _ is _ as dumb and oblivious as you make it sound, then he’ll probably just assume his  _ dear friend _ Sylvain abandoned him, and he’ll be too stubborn to even question it.”

_ Oh no. She’s right, _ Sylvain realized, eyes widening. He knew Felix well.  _ If I’m not there in the morning, he’s going to take it personally. He’s going to think I’m intentionally avoiding him. _

“We’ll be out of here by the morning anyway,” Julianna continued, “so if Felix  _ does _ go out looking for him, there won’t be anything for him to find.” She waved her hand dismissively.

Maria approached the other woman and softly kissed her cheek. “And this is why you do all the planning. You’re the smart one.”

“And you’re my little fighter,” Julianna teased, looking down at her.

“Don’t call me little,” Maria growled back, crossing her arms.

“Ooh, I like it when you’re feisty.” Maria turned away from her, still angry. Julianna sighed, “That idiot really got you riled up, huh?”

Maria ran her fingers through her hair. “I swear it took everything in me not to just cut that fool down where he stood.”

“You know we can’t do that,” Julianna pouted, crossing her arms. “Cornelia wants them alive.”

_ Cornelia!? _ Sylvain audibly gasped.  _ What the hell does she want with me and Felix?  _ They were just soldiers; it’s not like they had any real political importance in the war.  _ Why would she kidnap us?  _ he wondered, desperate for more answers.

“I know, I know.” Maria paused. “Wait.” She quickly looked over her shoulder back towards Sylvain, taking notice of his open eyes. “Well, well,” she smirked, walking back over to him and crouching down. His heart began to pound wildly. “Oh Sylvain,” she frowned at him, shifting her voice to the soft tone he was familiar with. She gripped his chin again and tilted up, forcing him to meet her cold brown eyes. “Don’t you know it’s rude to eavesdrop?” Her soft tone had taken on a cruel sarcasm.

Julianna walked up beside her and crouched down to him as well, the same ice in her green eyes. “Tsk, tsk,” she scolded. “Such a naughty boy. Why don’t you go back to sleep now, ‘kay?” She snapped her fingers and a spark of blue magic lit up from her fingertips. Sylvain’s eyes grew wide in terror. He mumbled frantically against the gag, panic rising in his chest. She waved her fingers over his eyes, and a cold numbness spread throughout his body as he slipped back into darkness.

*****

Felix awoke with a start. He quickly sat up, heart pounding, and shook his head to fight away the remnants of his nightmare. He glanced over to the bed next to him to see if he had disturbed Sylvain with his abrupt awakening. Sylvain wasn’t in the room though. His bed was empty, brown and gray comforter sitting unmoved from the previous morning. Felix snorted to himself.  _ Of course he isn’t back, _ he thought, rolling his eyes. He couldn’t help but feel a little surprised though. It did seem unusual for Sylvain to be gone the entire night. The last thing Felix had said to him was to leave him alone though, so it would seem that his friend was actually following through on his request. “Good. I don’t need him,” Felix said to the empty room. He got out of bed and started to get dressed. If Sylvain was going to leave him be, then Felix was going to do as he pleased.

He wandered around their room, packing his things and stalling for time to see if the redhead was finally going to make an appearance. Felix yanked open the dresser drawer and saw that all of Sylvain’s things had been removed. He looked around the room again, this time searching for any trace of his friend. “So, that’s how it’s going to be.” He crossed his arms, swallowing down a wave of hurt at Sylvain’s unspoken dismissal. “ _ Fine _ .”

Hurriedly throwing his bag over his shoulder, Felix left the room for the final time. He walked past the front desk where the innkeeper’s wife was sitting, reading a book. Wordlessly, he slid his key to her and nodded, knowing that Sylvain had covered their stay when they arrived. “Have a good day!” the elderly woman smiled as he walked away.

“Oh, I plan to,” he muttered bitterly under his breath. Sylvain wasn’t there to tell him what to do or where to go. So, Felix was going home. Even though it had only been a couple of days, he was already sick of being on leave. Wasn’t lying in bed doing  _ nothing _ for weeks enough of a break? He shook his head angrily. This was all such a pointless waste of time. And if Sylvain wanted to go recklessly gallivanting about with women, he didn’t need Felix around to hold him back.

He stepped outside the inn and was greeted by a light drizzle. Felix had expected as much. When he woke up, he had felt the scar on his chest start to ache as it always did on rainy days. He headed to the nearby stable where they had left their horses. The stablemaster’s eyes lit up in recognition as Felix approached, and the man nodded and walked inside the stable. He returned shortly after, gently tugging on the reins of Felix’s horse to lead it forward. Felix looked at his horse with a half-smile and handed over some gold to the stablemaster. He grabbed the reins from the man and brought his horse close to him to gently stroke its chestnut muzzle. He turned to thank the stablemaster, but the man was already gone. Felix shrugged and started towards the village’s entrance, his horse calmly plodding along behind him. 

“Wait! What about the other one?” the stablemaster called out to him, but Felix was already out of earshot. The man looked down at the reins in his hand, then back up to the beautiful grey mare in front of him. He shrugged, puzzled, and returned Sylvain’s horse to the stable.

Once he finally passed through the town’s gates, Felix turned back towards his horse. It snorted softly, black eyes watching him. He stepped closer to pat the stallion’s muzzle again and the horse pushed its nose against the side of his face in reply. “I don’t think my old man will be happy to see me home already,” he sighed. “So, I guess we’re going to just have to avoid him for a bit then.” He pushed back some of his wet hair and looked over his shoulder at the town, half-expecting to see Sylvain running up behind him to scold Felix for leaving without him. But, his friend was nowhere in sight. Felix shook his head at his own foolishness. “He can do as he pleases,” he murmured, trying again to convince himself that he didn’t care. He slid his foot into the stirrup, and pulled himself onto his horse. Felix clicked his tongue and his horse began to trot down the path, back to Fraldarius territory.


	3. What Happened in Kiltermon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warning: Graphic Imagery/Violence

“You sent for me?” Felix huffed, annoyance dripping in his voice. He stepped inside the tent and crossed his arms.

“Ah, Felix, my son.” Rodrigue turned to face him, folding the papers he was holding and sliding them into a pocket. “I’m glad to see you.” He smiled warmly.

“What do you want?” Felix retorted, his steely glare fixated on the man in front of him.

“I hear things have been going well on the western front,” Rodrigue acknowledged. He nodded to his son. “I expect that has something to do with you.”

Felix rolled his eyes. “Did you really drag me away from my post so you could spout empty praise at me? Or do you actually have something important to say?”

Rodrigue sighed, very familiar with his son’s feelings towards him. He chose to ignore Felix’s attitude and continued, “I have an assignment for you.” He reached into another pocket and held out a folded piece of parchment for his son.

With an annoyed snort, Felix reached for the paper and started to unfold it. “If you weren’t aware old man, I’m already a little busy fighting in this war, so I don’t have time for…” He trailed off as his eyes scanned over the words in the letter.

“It’s a request from a village south of here, near the intersection between Blaiddyd and Galatea territory,” Rodrigue explained. “The Dukedom sent an envoy there demanding their cooperation, and refusal to comply will be met with military force. The interim mayor of the village sent this letter to ask for protection.”

Felix shook his head. “Why? They’re not even in our territory.”

“Count Galatea is still maintaining his neutrality, so he would be unwilling to provide assistance.” Rodrigue paused for a moment to take a breath. “And I am doing everything I can to watch over Blaiddyd lands, at least what we have been able to seize back from the Dukedom. I owe His Majesty that much.”

“Indebted to a corpse,” Felix scoffed bitterly, shaking his head again at his father. “Fine. Then why send me? I have more important things to do than guard some village.”

“Kiltermon is a safe haven for refugees from the Dukedom,” Rodrigue explained. “It is likely that is why it is being targeted. With the lives of those refugees at stake, I want to ensure that they will be protected. Which is why I am entrusting this mission to you, my son; I know you have what it takes to keep them safe.”

“Fine.” Even if he didn’t like it, Felix knew he would have to agree to his father’s request.

“Good,” Rodrigue nodded with a warm smile. “When you arrive in Kiltermon, seek out a woman named Lillia. She is the one that sent the request. She should be able to give you more information.”

“Alright,” Felix answered.

“And please, remember that you are going there as a representative of House Fraldarius. I expect you to behave accordingly,” Rodrigue stressed. “These people are scared, Felix, and rightfully so. They need someone to let them know they’re going to be okay.” He paused to let his son process what he was saying. “I am trusting you with this responsibility. As my successor, you need to learn how to be the kind of leader that your people need you to be.”

Felix rolled his eyes again. He had heard his father’s ‘as my successor’ speeches before. “Yes. I know,” he replied tersely.

“You should prepare your men to leave for Kiltermon at once,” Rodrigue advised. “Based on the timing suggested in this letter, you only have a few days to make it to the village before the Dukedom troops are slated to return. They will likely be arriving from the west, so you should make camp on that side of town. Be sure to speak with Lillia though; she may have an idea as to where the enemy is based.”

“Yes. I know,” Felix repeated, starting to grow even more annoyed. He didn’t need his old man telling him what he already knew to do. “Is that it?”

Rodrigue looked at him with a gentle kindness in his eyes. Despite how Felix may have felt towards him, he loved his son dearly and was proud of how capable he had grown to be. With a half-smile, he nodded. “Yes, that was all I needed. Good luck. And please be safe, my son.”

Felix turned to leave, then glanced back over his shoulder to his father. For a moment, he was struck by how tired the old man looked. The war had aged him. Felix shook his head to brush away the growing feeling of pity. He didn’t have time to waste worrying about that. He had a mission to do, and people to protect.

*****

“That should be it right up ahead Lord Felix, sir.” The soldier gestured down the hill towards the town in the distance.

“Hmph, alright,” Felix answered, surveying the area. They were approaching from the north, and this location would be too far away from the village to serve as a meaningful location for their camp. “We should continue on and approach from the west,” he called out over his shoulder to his troops. A groan of protest spread throughout the small group. “I don’t care if you’re tired,” he responded, shaking his head. “Once we’re there, you’re free to do whatever you want _after_ you set up our camp.” The mutterings behind him took on a more positive tone. Felix was known to be more relaxed as a commander, so Fraldarius troops were often excited to be assigned under him. His old man would chastise him for the lack of discipline he enforced, but Felix never really cared. He wasn’t fond of having to command troops anyway; he preferred to work alone.

He continued on down the path towards Kiltermon, his small battalion of twenty following suit. The sun was covered by a thick layer of gray clouds that threatened an oncoming storm, and an icy chill hung in the air. The area surrounding the village seemed surprisingly nice; in the east were fields of green that had managed to survive Faerghus’s frigid climate. A dense forest protected the town from the south. Felix decided that that would be a suitable place for them to camp while they waited for the Dukedom forces to arrive the following day. Once they had gotten close enough, Felix directed his troops to the location he had spotted while he went into town.

As he passed through the gates, he was quickly approached by a woman who looked to be around the same age as his father. Her blue eyes looked tired, but her lips stretched into a smile as she realized who he was. “I can’t believe you’re actually here,” she said, a mix of surprise and relief in her voice.

“Hello,” he said, bowing to her respectfully. “My name is Felix Hugo Fraldarius. My men and I have come to help protect your village.”

“Thank the goddess,” the woman sighed under her breath. “I was so worried the Duke wasn’t going to respond to my request for aid.”

“Yes. My father asked for me to be here. We will keep you safe.” Despite his attempt at providing comfort, he knew his words sounded hollow and unfeeling.

“Oh my!” the woman exclaimed. “The Duke’s son himself! What a blessing it is for us to have you here.” She grinned at him, now looking genuinely relieved. “Please, if there is anything we can do to help, just ask. We owe you our lives.”

“I’ll need more information about the village and your interaction with the Dukedom. I was told to speak with a woman named Lillia,” Felix replied, caught a bit off-guard by the woman’s reaction.

“I’m Lillia,” she answered, nodding her head. “I’ve taken over for my husband as the leader of the village while he is away fighting in the war. Please, come with me. I can show you around town and we can talk.”

“Alright.” Felix walked up beside her and she began to lead him down the main street.

“Most of the people here are farmers,” Lillia explained. “I’m guessing you saw the fields on your way in?”

“Indeed,” he nodded.

“This is one of the only locations in Galatea territory that has been able to provide consistently successful harvests over the years. We are fortunate to have such blessed land.” She smiled and looked over at Felix.

“Indeed,” he repeated, unsure what else to say.

“Unfortunately, that blessing seems to be what the Dukedom is interested in,” she continued. “The message from their envoy demanded that we turn over control of our farmland to them.”

“Oh?” That was different from what his old man had told him.

“That’s what they said, at least.” Lillia’s tone had become softer. “I suspect that I know what they’re really interested in though, which is why I sent for help.”

They had walked through the center of town while they were talking and were now on the northeastern edge, where a large building stood isolated from the rest of the town. As opposed to the handful of individuals they had passed on the way, there were several groups of people outside of the building, a pleasant chatter filling the air as Felix and Lillia approached. 

“Welcome to Kiltermon’s little secret,” she announced, gesturing towards the scene in front of them. “We’ve been providing refuge for those fleeing from the Dukedom and the Empire. Some choose to stay, and others hide here while we arrange for their transportation to safer territory, either to the north or over the border to the Alliance.”

Felix nodded. So his father’s intel was correct. The Dukedom was likely to target the safehouse. “How many do you have here?” he asked. Looking around, outside of the building he could see almost a dozen people.

“Forty-three,” Lillia answered.

“What? Really?” he gasped.

The woman chuckled softly at his reaction. “My job has become hiding people, and I’m very good at what I do.” She continued, her tone solemn, but still wearing a smile, “Many of them are children, actually. This war has made a lot of orphans. I’ve done what I can to be a mother for them.”

“This is...incredible,” Felix sputtered out, genuinely impressed. He stood there, silently processing the feat in front of him. He only had an idea of how bad the conditions in the Dukedom were; he had heard that many people would try to escape, but they would be hunted down and forced to return. Such a well-kept safehouse probably felt like a miracle to these people.

“Oh, those boys,” Lillia suddenly muttered beside him, shaking her head. She started to walk away and Felix followed behind.

Standing in the shadow of the great building was a pair of young boys. With the same fire of red hair, they were unmistakably siblings. One looked to be fifteen or sixteen, while the other looked to be a few years younger, and it sounded like they were arguing.

“It’s not fair!” the younger boy whined. “You cheated!” He pointed a finger up towards his older brother.

The brother shook his head with an amused smile. “There’s no cheating in a fight. You have to be prepared for anything.”

“But...but…” The boy pouted and crossed his arms.

“Just keep practicing and then _maybe_ someday you’ll manage to beat me,” the older boy replied with a cocky smile. He gently patted his brother on the head and tousled his hair.

Felix watched the scene, feeling a cold sting of familiarity. He tried his best to push away his nostalgia as Lillia’s voice rang out beside him. 

“That’s enough, you two,” she scolded with a maternal warmth in her voice. “Mason, stop teasing your brother. And Sammy, stop pouting; knights don’t pout.”

The boys walked over to where Lillia and Felix were standing, both with a sheepish look in their eyes. “I’m sorry Miss Lillia,” the older one apologized, lowering his head. He glanced over at his brother and lightly hit his arm.

“Oh, and I-I’m sorry too Miss Lillia,” the younger one said, mimicking his brother.

“What am I going to do with you,” Lillia replied fondly.

“Have you heard anything else from the Dukedom?” the older boy asked. He looked over at Felix, both boys simultaneously realizing that he was standing there watching everything unfold. “Oh, are you the one the Duke sent to help us?”

“Yes, he is,” Lillia answered for him. “Duke Fraldarius sent his son, Lord Felix, to protect the town.”

“Yes,” Felix nodded.

“ _You?_ ” the younger boy interjected, eyebrows furrowed as he carefully scrutinized Felix. “But you’re barely older than Mason!”

“That’s enough Sammy,” the older brother scolded, pushing his brother behind him. “Please, forgive him.” He glanced back at his brother, then turned towards Felix, excitement glowing in his bright blue eyes. “Lord Felix, s-sir, my name is Mason Cavell.” He hurriedly bowed to Felix before continuing, “I wish to offer my sword to help you protect this town. Kiltermon has become our home since our parents died, and I want to do everything I can to protect it, and my brother. I-I’m quite skilled, too; my father taught me swordsmanship and he was a knight in the Kingdom army, a-and I practice with my brother every day. So, I promise I won’t get in your way.” He bowed again at the conclusion of his nervous ramble.

Felix couldn’t help but smile at the offer. He could understand the boy’s feelings well. “Alright,” he nodded. “You can stand with my troops to guard this safehouse.”

Mason straightened up and eagerly beamed at Felix. “Wow, thank you _so_ much Lord Felix!” He paused and an embarrassed blush dusted his cheeks. “Ahem,” he coughed, his voice taking on a more serious tone, “I mean, uh, thank you for the opportunity to serve under you, sir. I promise I won’t let you down.”

“Okay, are you done now?” the younger boy’s voice piped up from behind him. Sammy looked at his brother with an annoyed glare, his arms crossed. “You still owe me a rematch.”

“I know. Okay,” Mason replied, ruffling his brother’s hair again. 

The boy pushed away his hand and turned to walk back to where they had been practicing before. “And no cheating this time!” he called back over his shoulder.

Mason shook his head, an amused smile on his lips and his eyes full of love. He nodded to Felix and Lillia before turning around to walk towards his brother. “I don’t need to cheat with how sloppy your technique is!” he teased.

Once the two were back sparring, Lillia motioned for Felix to follow her. “Are you sure about this?” she asked, her voice concerned. “I know he’s eager, but…”

“Based on what we understand about the enemy’s projected movements, the safehouse should be on the opposite end of town from where they’re approaching from,” he explained. “We will likely be able to repel the Dukedom’s forces before they can even get close to here.”

“Okay,” Lillia nodded, sounding relieved.

“The enemy isn’t slated to arrive until tomorrow,” Felix continued. “So for now, I’ll post guards at the western entrance to town, and send a couple back here to watch over the refugees.”

“Understood.” She nodded again. She gently rested her hand on his shoulder and looked at him with her tired blue eyes. “Lord Felix, on behalf of all of Kiltermon, thank you for being here.”

“Of course,” he replied, starting to feel a little uncomfortable with the way she was staring at him. He took a step back from her and surveyed the area again. With the hill to the north, any enemy advancement would be easily spotted, and the Dukedom wouldn’t risk destroying the farmland they were looking to seize in order to approach from the east. This really was the perfect location for the safehouse. Felix looked again at the families scattered around outside of the building. He heard the familiar clang of clashing swords and glanced over to where the two brothers were sparring. He watched them for a moment, a wistful smile on his face, before turning back to Lillia. “I should return to my troops now to give them their orders,” he said. The woman nodded her head, and Felix started walking back through town.

*****

“What the hell is this,” Felix muttered under his breath as he approached the shoddily thrown together encampment. Leaning tents formed a messy semi-circle around a small fire being maintained by a singular soldier.

“Lord Felix, sir.” The soldier stood to greet him as he approached.

“Where is everyone?” He looked around confusedly at the pitiful display.

“I’m all that’s left, sir,” she replied.

“What?” Felix asked. “Where are they?”

“Well, sir, you did say we were free to do as we pleased once we finished setting up camp,” she admitted, lowering her eyes as she saw an annoyed scowl on his face. “I didn’t know if you were being serious though, so I stayed behind.”

Felix groaned and ran his fingers through his hair. “Thank you,” he nodded to her, grateful to have at least one responsible soldier under his command.

She smiled and continued her report. “Most of them went into town to the tavern, I believe. A few of the others who had stayed behind with me also left recently to go hunt.”

He groaned again and rolled his eyes, unsurprised, but annoyed by his troops’ behavior. He opened his mouth to speak, but froze at the faint sound of leaves rustling. He looked past the soldier into the darkness of the surrounding forest. For the briefest of moments, he saw a flash of blonde hair. Felix’s heart stopped. The color was unmistakable. Without thinking, he started towards the forest, brushing past the soldier who was now staring at him with confusion and concern.

“Lord Felix, sir, is everything okay?” she asked.

He kept walking, eyes locked on the spot where he had seen the flash. “Find the others and tell them to guard the town,” he replied distractedly.

“W-What?” she stammered, bewildered by the vague command.

“Figure it out,” he ordered sternly, still staring forward. He pushed through the wall of foliage surrounding their camp into the darkness. 

Slowly, Felix crept deeper into the forest, straining to hear any more mysterious sounds. “Dimitri?” he called out softly. He hesitated, hoping for a reply but not expecting one, then kept walking, looking for any sign of him. _This is ridiculous_ , he accosted himself as he searched. But he knew what he had seen. As impossible as it was, Felix knew without a doubt that he had caught sight of his old friend. A ball of hurt and anger welled in his chest. His feelings towards Dimitri were complicated, to say the least. But, Felix had spent the last two years telling himself and his father that Dimitri was dead; he had been executed in Fhirdiad. He knew that and yet, here he was, wandering the forest, his footsteps motivated by a small spark of hope. 

“Dimitri?” he called out again to the empty woods. Then, he saw it. Another flash of blonde hair in the distance. “Dimitri?” he breathed. Again, there was no reply. Felix shook his head and started sprinting towards what he had seen. _That was him. I know it was._ The overcast sky had taken on a darker hue, making it almost impossible for him to see as he ran deeper into the forest in pursuit of his friend. He kept running, bumping into trees, frantically looking for another sign, the hope in his chest now morphing into desperation. “Dimitri!” he shouted, breathing heavily from his sprint. And again, the forest didn’t answer him. Felix was alone. 

“Fuck!” he shouted, the ball of emotion finally overwhelming him. Furiously, he threw a fist into the closest tree. Angry tears blurred his vision. He hated himself for daring to hope. He looked towards the ground. “You probably love seeing this, don’t you, boar? Seeing me run around like a desperate fool trying to find you.” His voice held the same pain and loss that Felix had carried with him for years. A singular tear dared to roll down his cheek and he furiously wiped it away. He shook his head, taking a moment to let the wave of emotion ebb away. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. _Dimitri is dead. No amount of hope can change that._

A distant rumble of thunder rolled across the sky. Felix looked up to see that the clouds had become a dark gray and a sudden gust of wind rushed through the trees. A storm was coming. Not wanting to get caught in the rain so far away from camp, he turned around and tried to retrace his steps back through the forest. A small wave of guilt ran through him as he realized that he had no idea how long he had been gone. With the sun completely blocked by clouds, it was almost impossible for him to discern the time of day. Although it took him longer than he wanted, he did manage to make it back to more familiar scenery. He pushed back through the foliage to where their camp was. But this time, the camp was completely empty. The small fire sitting in the center of the tents was nothing more than a smoky ember. There was no sign of any of his troops. He sighed and shook his head, then began his walk to find them.

*****

As he neared the western entrance to Kiltermon, Felix could hear a crowd of voices. They sounded scared; their chattering fast and high-pitched. Confused, he picked up his pace. Just outside of town was a large group of people huddled together, frantically talking amongst themselves. Three of his soldiers were standing near the group trying to calm the terrified villagers. As Felix drew closer, he was hit with the smell of smoke in the distance; its acrid tang making his nostrils flare. He quickly looked for the source, struggling to see through the darkness of the night. A thick, black cloud of smoke billowed from the east. The beautiful fields of green he had passed by earlier that day were now alight with a raging, uncontrolled fire.

One of the soldiers jogged up to Felix as they saw him approaching the group. “Lord Felix, sir.” It was the same woman he had spoken to earlier at the camp. “Thank the goddess that you’re here. I-I had no idea where you went, and I didn’t know what to do, but I tried to evacuate as many as I could.” She sounded out of breath and her eyes looked scared.

“What the _hell_ is going on?” he demanded, his voice more hostile than he intended.

The soldier raised her eyebrows in surprise. “It’s the Dukedom, sir. They’re attacking the village,” she explained. “I-I thought you knew.”

“ _What!?_ ” Felix shouted back, drawing the attention of the townsfolk. He looked over her shoulder towards them and saw them staring back at him expectantly. His heart started to race. This was wrong. This was all _wrong_. 

He shook his head in a panicked attempt to clear his thoughts. The Dukedom was attacking. The fields were on fire to the east. Felix’s eyes grew wide as he understood what was happening: the enemy had come from the hill, under the cover of the night and the smoke, to attack from the north. He shut his eyes tightly and tried to regain his composure. In the back of his mind, he could hear his father’s voice: _be the kind of leader that your people need you to be_.

Felix opened his eyes. “Stay here and guard them,” he ordered the remaining soldiers standing by the group. They both nodded in assent. “You. Come with me,” he said to the soldier next to him, walking towards the entrance. He saw the cloud of black smoke again and broke into a run, the woman following suit. “Tell me everything you know,” he huffed to her as they ran through the streets.

“I waited a while for you, but when you didn’t return, I went into town to start looking for the other troops like you had asked. Then I saw the smoke coming from the fields. I ran to the tavern to gather everyone I could and told them to head towards the source. Then I doubled back to camp to look for you, but…” She stopped talking for a moment to catch her breath. “I found those two waiting there and told them to come with me to help evacuate the town. I don’t know any more than that.”

“But...it’s a day early,” Felix breathed, knowing how pitiful of an excuse that was. Shame flooded through him. No. There was no excuse for this, for him. He was gone when the Dukedom attacked. He had abandoned these people to chase after a dead man. 

At last they made it to the northeastern side of town, to the safehouse. Felix’s heart stopped. Blood roared in his ears. He was frozen, only able to stare in horror at the scene before him. In the shadow of the grand building lay a field of corpses, dark pools of fresh blood still growing beneath them. Some were his troops, a few were enemy soldiers, but many, far too many, were civilians. A battle for the refugees had already taken place. And they had lost.

“By the goddess,” the woman whispered. She sounded like she was about to cry. Her fellow soldiers, her friends, were now just cold bodies lying in the dirt.

“See if there are any survivors,” he choked out, already knowing it would be a failed endeavor. She nodded and ran over to start checking the bodies. He looked past the battlefield to the hill in the north. In the distance, he saw remnants of the enemy forces making their way back up the hill. Felix looked back to the bodies, the metallic stench of the blood mixing in with acrid smoke. Bile rose in his throat and he fought hard to suppress the urge to vomit. His eyes fell upon a fire of red hair among the corpses. The same boy who had been so eager to draw his sword in protection of his people was now just another casualty, another victim of war. He bit his lip hard to keep himself from screaming. All of this chaos, this destruction, rested solely on his shoulders.

“Lord Felix.” He whipped around at the sound of a voice behind him and locked eyes with Lillia. He felt his heart drop. Her eyes had looked tired before, but now she looked completely devoid of hope. Gathered behind her was a small group of people, all wearing the same weary, hopeless expression.

He looked away, unable to handle meeting her gaze. “Lillia, I—”

“I tried to save as many as I could,” she continued. There was no emotion in her voice. She glanced over her shoulder at the group huddled together. “But they killed them as they fled. Less than twenty survived.” She looked back to Felix, her face expressionless. “They never had a chance.” Guilt and shame flooded over him at the unspoken question in her words: _‘Why weren’t you here?’_

Felix opened his mouth to respond, but the words wouldn’t come. There was nothing to say. The disappointment and despair she felt were all valid. He had failed them, utterly and completely. She had trusted him with their lives. And he failed.

A young boy with red hair pushed his way through the crowd of refugees. “Where is he?” Sammy yelled, running up next to Lillia. “Where is my brother?” He was breathing heavily. He turned his eyes towards Felix, who could only stare back silently. It only took a moment for the boy to realize what his silence meant. Tears welled up in his eyes. “No,” he whispered. His small body started to tremble. “No! You were supposed to protect us!” he screamed. “You were—” His voice cracked and he started to sob. Lillia reached down to gently stroke his hair as he weeped into her side.

Felix looked down at the boy and saw himself. He had felt it all before: the anger, the pain, the unimaginable sorrow. Another Tragedy. Another brother unfairly stolen from the world. He reached down and tightly gripped his sword, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. _This time, I can do something about it._ _I swear I will make them pay._

“I’m going after them,” he said, opening his eyes to meet Lillia’s.

“What? Sir, you can’t be serious,” the soldier gasped, jogging up to them.

Lillia nodded in agreement. “What about us?”

Felix shook his head. He had already made up his mind. “The Dukedom won’t attack you again tonight.”

“B-but, the fire—” Lillia stammered.

“Will be put out by the storm.” As if on cue, thunder once again roared through the sky and a light drizzle began to fall. Felix turned and walked away, roughly brushing past the soldier standing behind him.

She watched him walk away, momentarily stunned, then scampered up beside him. “Sir, we can’t just abandon these people,” she pleaded. “And there’s too many of them for you to—”

“If you don’t want to come with me, then _stay behind_ ,” he spat back. “The more time we waste talking about it, the further away the enemy gets.” He continued forward, not caring if she followed. 

The soldier hesitated, looking to him, then back to the villagers, who were now seeking shelter from the storm. “Goddess, protect him,” she prayed softly as she watched him disappear into the night. She turned and ran back to the people.

*****

The rain started to fall more heavily, weighing Felix’s bangs down over his eyes. It was going to be difficult to track the enemy down with the rain and the thick layer of clouds covering the light of the moon. But he didn’t care how difficult it would be; he was going to hunt down every last one of them. Felix marched up the hill, not letting the mud slow his ascent. He unsheathed his sword, lips turning up into a cold half-smile that didn’t reach his eyes. He could feel himself giving into the same animalistic hunger that had destroyed his old friend; vengeance and rage his only motivators now. These people were going to pay for what they did, and he was going to enjoy every second of it.

Once he had crested the hill, he scoured the surrounding woods for any trace of Dukedom forces. The rain was steadily pouring down with no sign of stopping. Any footprints were likely already washed away. Another crack of thunder sounded throughout the sky. Felix gripped his sword tighter, his blade eager to meet flesh, as he continued through the forest.

“You really thought you could take all of us?” A cold voice suddenly cut through the air as a figure stepped out from behind a tree. “I mean, come on, you’re surroun—” The voice turned into a gurgle as blood spurted out of the slit on his neck.

Felix smirked and lowered his blade, the rain quickly washing away the blood on its tip. He looked over his shoulders as he heard more approaching enemy soldiers. With a quick thrust, he plunged his sword into the stomach of one coming from the left, then turned and sliced through the chest of another to the right. _Too easy_ , he grinned to himself. More enemy soldiers ran at him and Felix readied his sword, fully relinquishing control to the feral beast within. He effortlessly hacked through their bodies, hoping to cause them as much pain as possible with each slice of his sword. A short, hysteric laugh passed through his lips as another fell to his blade. He had no idea that killing could feel so _satisfying_.

A sudden pain in his right shoulder snapped Felix back to reality. He had been stabbed from behind. His sword fell from his hand, the searing pain causing him to loosen his grip. Before he could move to reclaim his sword, an arm wrapped itself around his neck. He struggled against the choking force, but any movement of his right arm sent waves of hot pain through him. He frantically tried to grab at the arm with his left hand, but his fingers kept slipping off of the wet surface. A hand gripped his wrist, forcibly bringing it behind his back to stop his struggle. He tried to move his right arm, but was stopped again by the overwhelming pain. An enemy soldier appeared in front of him, axe raised and ready. A bolt of lightning shot through the sky. Felix’s heart was pounding uncontrollably. With abject terror in his eyes, he watched as the soldier swung the axe down, slicing cleanly into his chest.

“Ngh,” he sputtered out, unable to say or do anything. His entire body was suddenly engulfed in flame. His chest burned with excruciating agony. His legs buckled, unable to support his weight any longer. The man who was holding onto him quickly tossed him to the side, Felix’s body tumbling over the wet grass. With a shared congratulatory laugh at his expense, the group of soldiers that had ambushed him turned and reentered the shadows of the surrounding forest.

Felix stared up at the sky, his breathing quick and unsteady as waves of adrenaline surged through him, distancing him from the white hot pain. He could feel his blood soaking into his already drenched clothing. He started feeling lightheaded, the entire world taking on a fuzzy appearance. Through unfocused eyes he watched as another bolt of lightning shot through the darkness above. In his mind, he saw again the field of corpses, of all of the people he had failed, their imagined screams of pain ringing in his ears. They died because of him. That boy’s brother died because of him. And, like a fool, he let himself give in to his rage, his pointless, senseless rage, for nothing. No matter how many lives he had taken, it would never bring back the ones he had lost.

Using the last of his strength, Felix tried to reach for his sword. His fingers twitched towards it to no avail. Blood continued to flow out of the wound on his chest. He felt incredibly weak; his entire body growing numb. He closed his eyes and saw his father and his brother. A tear fell from his eye. _This is not a knight’s death._ _I’m sorry._ Another tear mixed with the rain pouring down his face.

“Over here! I found him!” A woman’s voice came from behind where Felix was laying. She sounded distant, her words unclear to him. The woman knelt down beside him. “By the goddess,” she gasped, staring down at him. “He needs medical attention!” she shouted over her shoulder desperately. “And quick!” She moved to sit behind his head, carefully lifting him onto her lap.

Through glassy, unfocused eyes, Felix tried to make out the woman’s figure. It was the same soldier from before. His fingers twitched again towards his sword. Noticing his effort, the woman looked down at him with a sympathetic smile, tears in her eyes. Moving slowly enough to not disturb him, she reached over to where his sword was lying in the grass and slid it over towards him. She gently grabbed his right hand and rested the grip in his palm, then carefully wrapped his fingers around it. He let out a small sigh, his eyes half-lowered. “Please, Lord Felix,” the woman whispered, her voice practically a sob. “Please don’t die.” She shook her head and swallowed hard. The blurriness had almost completely taken over his vision. He could still feel the rise and fall of his chest, his labored breathing one of his remaining pieces of life. Just barely, he saw the woman turn back over her shoulder to say something. He couldn’t make out what it was and he didn’t have the energy to care. He was so tired. So very tired. With one final look at the night sky, Felix’s eyes fell closed.

*****

“This way, sir,” the servant nodded to Sylvain and guided him up the stairs to the second floor of the Fraldarius estate. A man with dark hair was sitting in the parlor, his back to Sylvain as he entered the room. “Lord Sylvain Gautier is here for you, sir.”

“Thank you,” the man replied, his voice tired. The servant bowed, then promptly left the room. With a small groan of effort, the man rose from his chair, turning to face his guest. “Sylvain,” he smiled. “It’s good to see you.”

“I’m glad I can be here, Lord Rodrigue.” Sylvain bowed to the older man. “How is he?”

Rodrigue looked away from him and sighed. “Physically, he’s improving. But it’s a slow process, even with magic. It will still be a few more weeks before he’s back to full mobility.”

“Can I go see him?” Sylvain asked.

“Of course,” Rodrigue nodded. “He’s in his room; you know where to go.” He paused for a moment and took another breath. “I hope he’ll be happy to see you.” He turned away and returned to his chair, picking up the reports he had left on the table and shuffling through them.

Sylvain walked down the hallway towards Felix’s room. Sitting just outside his door was a woman with short black hair, reading, with a bag of medical supplies on the floor beside her. As he approached, the nurse glanced up from her book and raised an eyebrow at him. Sylvain slid past her and rested his hand on the doorknob. “Good luck,” she muttered, rolling her eyes in annoyance as he walked inside.

Felix was sitting upright in his bed, staring forlornly out the open window to his right. His dress shirt was unbuttoned, exposing his torso wrapped in a thick layer of bandages. More bandages covered his right shoulder. His sword was laying beside him on the bed, his fingers mindlessly tracing the intricate design of its hilt. He looked tired.

“H-Hey,” Sylvain breathed out, taking in the scene. He had only been able to briefly visit Felix once when he was hospitalized in Galatea territory after the incident in Kiltermon. As soon as he received the message from Rodrigue about Felix’s condition, Sylvain had left his post against his father’s wishes to go see him. The Margrave was furious when he found out, but thankfully his old man had given his blessing for this trip to the Fraldarius estate. “You look so much better than the last time I saw you,” Sylvain continued, feeling overwhelmed with relief. When he had visited back in Galatea territory, they still weren’t sure if Felix was going to pull through; his body had stopped responding properly to the healing magic. Sylvain swallowed hard, remembering the despair and fear he had felt looking down at his unconscious, barely alive friend. To see him awake now, with the color returned to his cheeks, and looking almost back to his old self brought tears to Sylvain’s eyes.

Slowly, Felix turned his head away from the window to the foot of his bed where Sylvain was standing, his amber eyes devoid of emotion. “What do you want?” he sighed, sounding too tired to even be his usual, hostile self.

“Nice to see you too,” Sylvain replied, casually throwing his arms behind his head. “How are you feeling?”

Felix crossed his arms and let out a small, annoyed chuckle. “How do you think?” he huffed back sarcastically. He turned his head away from Sylvain and continued to stare out the window.

“I’m just...so glad you’re okay,” Sylvain said, walking over to sit on the bed. “We were all so worried.” Felix was still refusing to face him, his jaw was clenched and eyes still empty. “I heard you’re going to be back on your feet in a couple weeks, so that’s good,” he continued, not letting his friend’s silence deter him. “Who knows, maybe we’ll get assigned together again, like we were at the start of the war.” Sylvain smiled nostalgically. “Do you remember that? We had so much fun back then. I mean, between all the fighting and stuff. It was fun getting to work with you.”

Felix’s body tensed. He reached over to pick up the glass of water sitting on his nightstand. “Fun?” he repeated softly, staring down as he turned the glass around in his hand. Suddenly, he raised his head, meeting Sylvain’s eyes with fury blazing in his glare. “I take a fucking axe to the chest and you have the gall to come in here and try to talk to me about _fun_?!” he shouted. He hurled the glass in his hand over Sylvain’s shoulder. It shattered into pieces as it crashed into the wall behind him. “Get out,” Felix hissed through gritted teeth.

“Calm down Felix,” Sylvain pleaded, standing up and taking a step back from his friend, feeling a little shaken by the sudden outburst. He paused. Felix was now hunched over, his left hand reaching back to his right shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“I said _get out,_ ” Felix snarled, refusing to meet Sylvain’s concerned eyes. He grimaced as his shoulder continued to sting with pain.

Slowly, Sylvain backed away from him towards the door. He took a deep breath and grabbed the knob, taking one last look over his shoulder at Felix before stepping through the threshold, quickly, but quietly shutting the door behind him. He looked up and was face to face with Rodrigue. He had likely heard the sound of the glass breaking and had come over to investigate. Both he and the nurse were standing just outside of Felix’s room, an exhausted concern on their faces. “I, uh, I don’t think he feels like talking right now,” Sylvain explained sheepishly. Rodrigue shook his head knowingly and sighed before walking back down the hallway.

The nurse returned to her chair beside Felix’s door, crossing her arms with a snort. “I told you,” she murmured.

“I think he may have aggravated his injuries,” Sylvain mentioned. “But, I wouldn’t go in there yet.”

The woman rolled her eyes and sighed again. “Oh I know. I’ve learned how to deal with that attitude of his.” She shook her head with an amused smile. “I’ll check on him later once he’s cooled off.”

“Thank you,” Sylvain smiled, nodding to her. He walked down the hallway back to where he had spoken with Rodrigue before. 

The man was sitting in his chair, combing over the many reports scattered on the table. He looked up as Sylvain approached. “He’s been like that for weeks. I just wish I understood why,” he sighed, gesturing for Sylvain to take the chair across from him. “I heard the full story of what happened, though I wish it made more sense.”

“What do you mean?” Sylvain asked. “I thought Felix got hurt in battle protecting that village.”

Rodrigue shook his head. “No. It would seem that isn’t exactly the case.”

Sylvain’s eyebrows raised in surprise. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his legs. “What do you know?”

Rodrigue took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair, trying still to appear composed, but the persistent exhaustion in his eyes told a different story. “I was approached a couple of weeks ago, while Felix was still recovering in Galatea territory. I know it was brief, but when you came by to see him, do you recall seeing a woman in the corner of his room praying?”

“Yeah, I do,” Sylvain answered. Although faint, he could remember an unfamiliar woman with mid-length auburn hair sitting there silently.

“Her name is Karina Rosen,” Rodrigue continued. “She was one of the three soldiers under Felix’s command that survived the events in Kiltermon. We had just heard that Felix was again starting to respond to treatment, and that his odds of survival were significantly higher. After hearing that, Karina approached me to submit her resignation. She said that after all she had gone through, she felt unfit to continue serving. She said she blames herself for Felix’s injuries.” He sighed and lowered his head. “But, she wanted me to know the truth of what happened, because she had been there for everything. Before the Dukedom launched their surprise attack, Karina had met with Felix at their encampment outside of town. She said he started acting strangely all of a sudden, and then disappeared into the surrounding forest.”

“Why?” Sylvain asked. “It’s not like him to just take off like that.”

“I know,” Rodrigue agreed. “He didn’t say anything to Karina about where he was going or why. She said she waited some time for him to return, but he never did. When the attack on the town began, Felix was still missing.” He shook his head. “Karina was the one to assemble the troops, sending most to defend the safehouse, while she and two others evacuated the villagers. She said that they had fully evacuated the town when Felix did finally appear.” Rodrigue closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “He didn’t even know that the Dukedom had attacked.”

“I don’t believe it,” Sylvain breathed, sitting back in his chair, feeling utterly bewildered. Felix wasn’t someone who would just abandon his responsibilities, even _if_ he had a good reason to. It didn’t make any sense.

“I don’t understand why he left either,” Rodrigue lamented, sharing Sylvain’s confusion at his son’s uncharacteristic behavior. “All I know is that he wasn’t there for the invasion. Karina said that after Felix returned, she ran with him to the safehouse to check on the refugees. But, by the time they got there, the battle had already concluded, and the Dukedom’s forces were already gone.” He paused and sighed again, closing his eyes. “All that was left was a field of corpses. All of the soldiers sent to guard the safehouse were slaughtered, as well as over half of the refugees.”

“I can’t imagine…” Sylvain murmured, shaking his head sadly. _He must feel so guilty,_ he realized, feeling a sting of sympathy towards his friend. _But I guess that explains why he’s acting how he is._

“I know,” Rodrigue replied somberly. “It truly is horrible what happened.”

They were silent for a moment, both reflecting on the gravity of the event. “But wait, if Felix wasn’t there for the battle, then how did he get hurt?” Sylvain asked.

“Unfortunately, that’s the other part that doesn’t make sense,” Rodrigue replied, crossing his arms. “Even though he would understandably blame himself for everything that happened, my son isn’t the type of person who would allow emotion to cloud his judgment. Or so I thought.” He raised his head to meet Sylvain’s eyes. “He pursued the enemy forces alone, leaving behind his troops, and the people he was sworn to protect.” He paused for a moment and swallowed. “He was ambushed by the enemy; cut down and left for dead. Karina was the one who found him. If she had hesitated any longer to go out looking for him, Felix would have died.”

“But...why would he do that?” Sylvain shook his head. “Even if he did blame himself, he had to have known it was a suicide mission.”

“I agree,” Rodrigue sighed. “Something drove him to be so reckless. But I have no idea what. He won’t say anything about it. He wasn’t well enough to speak when Ingrid came to visit him in the hospital, so she couldn’t ask. And he refuses to even look at me when I’m in the room.”

Sylvain nodded. “So, what do you need me to do?”

“How fortunate my son is to have such good friends,” Rodrigue replied softly, a small smile on his face. “Regardless of how I may feel because he is my son, Felix abandoned those people and failed in his mission. Even when he is cleared for duty, for now I cannot risk assigning him any more responsibilities. Not until we know more about the reasoning behind his actions.” He uncrossed his arms. “Therefore, I would like for you to go on leave with him. Perhaps if he spends some time away from here, and away from the battlefield, he’ll be willing to talk to you about what happened. I don’t know if it will work; you know how stubborn my son can be. But this is all I can think to try. If there’s anyone Felix would open up to, it’s you.”

“Okay, I’ll see what I can do,” Sylvain agreed.

“Thank you.” Finally, Rodrigue’s face bore a genuine smile. “He still needs a few more weeks until he’s fully recovered, but I will write to the Margrave to request that you be given some time off once he has.”

Sylvain smiled and threw his hands behind his head. “Well, if it’s coming from you, then my old man is sure to approve.”

“Good,” Rodrigue answered with a soft chuckle.

Sylvain stood up from his chair and walked over to the other man, gently resting his hand on his shoulder. “I understand how important this is,” he said seriously. “I promise I will do whatever I can to help him.”

Rodrigue looked up to him, exhaustion aging his features, but his eyes alight with hope. “I know you will.”

*****

There was a knock at Felix’s door. He crossed his arms, turning away from the window, his dark room illuminated only by the radiance of the full moon outside. His shoulder had stopped hurting thankfully, but its healing had been accompanied by the usual tongue-lashing from his nurse. “Come in,” he called out to his visitor.

The door opened and Sylvain cautiously slid inside the room, unsure of Felix’s mood. “It’s dark in here,” he remarked, glancing around. “How can you even see?” He grabbed the lantern off of Felix’s wardrobe and lit it, filling the room with a warm glow. “Much better,” he grinned, returning it to its place and taking a seat on Felix’s bed beside him.

“Hey,” Felix mumbled to him, his cheeks turning a light pink with embarrassment as he recalled their previous interaction.

“I have to leave early tomorrow morning,” Sylvain said. “So, I thought I’d come by tonight.” He raised his hands to reveal two empty glasses. “And I brought you a little something.” His lips curled into a smirk. He handed Felix a glass, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a flask. He opened it and carefully poured a small amount of whiskey into each glass.

“You know I’m probably not allowed to have this,” Felix remarked, swirling the dark liquid in his glass.

“Hey I came all this way to see you,” Sylvain replied. “I think I’ve earned at least one drink with my best friend.” He reached forward to clink his glass against Felix’s, then leaned back and swallowed a mouthful of whiskey.

“Alright,” Felix nodded. He carefully took a sip of the drink, its comforting warmth sliding down his throat. 

“And besides,” Sylvain continued, “Ingrid always says that I’m a bad influence on you. So, this is me not letting her down.” He laughed and took another drink.

“You’re an idiot,” Felix replied, shaking his head with a smile.

Sylvain’s eyes lit up at the sight of his friend’s smile and he couldn’t help himself from beaming back at him. There was life in Felix’s eyes again. “It’s been so long since we’ve gotten to just sit and talk like this.” Sylvain paused, then started to laugh as it dawned on him. “The last time was your birthday, wasn’t it?” He took another sip of his drink. “Not that you remember much of it, I’m sure,” he teased.

Felix frowned, his cheeks warm from embarrassment and the alcohol. “I remember it,” he insisted.

“Uh-huh, sure,” Sylvain smirked back. “Let’s ask Ingrid about it the next time we see her and we’ll see if she agrees.” He laughed again, fondly recalling the craziness of that night. He reached for his flask again and refilled his glass. “So, my old man has me stationed in southern Itha, you know? And I’ve gotta say, I understand now why the king’s brother was so busy with women all the time. There are gorgeous girls everywhere you look.”

“Insatiable,” Felix muttered before taking another sip of whiskey.

“Hey, I prefer ‘opportunistic,’” Sylvain retorted. “I know I’m never going to see these girls again, so I may as well have a little fun while I can, right?”

“All your philandering is going to get you into trouble someday,” Felix said, shaking his head.

Sylvain nodded. “I know. I know. I’ve heard the same thing from Ingrid a thousand times already.” He smiled and swallowed another mouthful. “So far, so good though.”

Felix sighed and finished his drink. As its warmth flowed to his stomach, he realized how tired he felt. He always felt tired nowadays, but this time it was a good tired, a warm tired. “Just be careful,” he replied with a yawn. “If something happened to you, it would be...annoying.” He yawned again, the mix of alcohol and exhaustion taking over his body.

Taking notice of his friend’s rapidly growing drowsiness, Sylvain gulped down the rest of his whiskey and stood up. “I know,” he answered, looking down at Felix with a gentle smile. “I’ll be careful.” 

“Good,” Felix murmured back, feeling his eyelids start to droop.

Sylvain walked over and blew out the lantern, darkness quickly filling the room. He reached for the doorknob, glancing over his shoulder with a fond smile at the sight of his already-sleeping friend. “I promise,” he whispered.


	4. Putting the Pieces Together

Ingrid led her horse to the small river in front of her. “Let’s take a quick rest, and then we’ll be on our way,” she told the animal. It snorted softly in reply, then bent its head, straw colored mane brushing over its eyes, and began to drink from the river. As she waited, Ingrid reached into one of the saddlebags and pulled out her map of the area. She unfolded it, tracing her finger down her intended route. She already knew she was going the right way, but it didn’t hurt to make sure. The fort wasn’t much farther. _Good. The sooner I get there, the better,_ she thought, returning the map to its place. Her fingers brushed over the other piece of parchment she was carrying in the bag and she couldn’t stop herself from sighing, recalling with perfect clarity the letter’s contents.

Once Ingrid felt that they had rested enough, she pulled herself back onto her horse. “Why am I _always_ the responsible one?” she asked it, shaking her head. She gently patted the horse’s shoulder, then clicked her tongue and the horse began trotting down the path.

*****

“Ah, _there_ you are Lord Felix.” The general walked inside Felix’s quarters, a cautious smile on his face. “When I came by earlier, you weren’t here.”

Felix huffed loudly, crossing his arms. He was sitting at the desk in his room, his back to the doorway. “I went out for a walk,” he replied tersely to the wall in front of him.

“My Lord, it would make things easier on all of us if you could please let someone know when you’re going out,” the man said exasperatedly.

“Well,” Felix began, standing up from his chair to turn and face the general. “I’m a little sick of being constantly followed around. So why don’t you include _that_ in your report to my father?” he growled.

The man shook his head. “My Lord, I know you’re not happy with the way things are, but please try to understand that—”

“I understand that that old fool doesn’t trust me, which is why he sent me here so you can watch everything I do,” Felix snapped back. He crossed his arms, frustration flaring in his eyes. “Now, did you actually come here for a reason? Or just to annoy me?”

The general sighed and closed his eyes, taking a moment to maintain his composure. Felix had been stationed at the fort for two weeks now, and his brooding, inconsiderate attitude had only gotten worse over time. It was starting to take its toll on the man’s patience. “I came to bring you a letter. It’s from your father.” He slowly stretched it out towards Felix.

“Alright,” Felix replied, rolling his eyes. He snatched the letter out of the man’s hands and tossed it behind him onto the desk. It slid into a pile of unopened letters sitting in the corner.

“You’re not even going to open it?” the general challenged, starting to let his growing annoyance come out in his tone.

“Why should I?” Felix shot back. “If it was anything of actual military importance, he wouldn’t be sending it to me. We both know you’re only ‘reporting’ to me as a formality. I don’t have any real power here.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way,” the general replied carefully, well aware that Felix’s assessment was correct. “I’ll take my leave then, sir.” He bowed respectfully, then left the room, closing the door behind him.

Felix sighed and shook his head. “This is so pointless,” he grumbled. Boredom was making him anxious; he started to pace around the room. He could feel his sword growing dull from its lack of use. “I should be out there actually _doing_ something. Not sitting around waiting in a cell.” He ran a hand through his hair, then walked back over to the desk, resting his arms on the back of the chair and lowering his head. “How can I prove myself when he won’t even give me a chance to?” he murmured. He shut his eyes tightly as a jumbled flash of memory shot through him, his heartbeat quickening in response. Felix took a deep breath, trying to once again ignore the persistent storm always looming in his mind. He knew his old man didn’t trust him anymore. He understood why, but that didn’t make it any less frustrating.

He stood upright and crossed his arms, his fingers lightly brushing over the scar on his chest. He winced instinctually, still not used to its bumpy texture through his clothing. He closed his eyes and was back in the storm of that night. Again, he saw the axe raised in front of him, its steel shining from a bolt of lightning. Felix quickly opened his eyes, desperate to not see the scene’s conclusion. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest and his hands were trembling slightly. Rage started to build within him, furious at his own body’s behavior. He hated this. He hated that something so simple could send him into such a panic. Just like when he was recovering at home, there was nothing for him to do here than be alone with his thoughts, and his mind was his worst enemy at this point.

A knock on his door brought Felix back into the present. “Lord Felix, sir?” He could hear the general’s muffled voice through the door. “Lady Ingrid is here to see you.”

“What?” Felix said softly, taking a step towards the door. _Why is she here?_ he wondered.

The general opened the door to Felix’s quarters and gestured for Ingrid to step inside. “Thank you,” she nodded to him, a polite smile on her face. The general nodded in return then shut the door behind him.

Ingrid turned her eyes towards Felix, who was standing in the center of the room, mouth slightly agape in obvious confusion. For a moment, she was overwhelmed by relief at the sight of his condition. Compared to how fragile and pallid he was when she had last seen him, it was a bit of a shock to see him in front of her looking so normal. “Felix,” she breathed, walking towards him. She threw her arms around his neck, pulling him into a tight hug. “I’ve been so worried,” she murmured.

Felix, still bewildered by his friend’s unexpected arrival, stiffened at her embrace, uncomfortably lifting an arm to slide around her back. “Hello,” he said, his voice more of a question than a greeting. “What are you doing here?”

Ingrid stepped back from him, feeling a little self-conscious from his cold reaction. “You don’t know? Didn’t you get the letter saying I was coming?” she asked.

Sheepishly, Felix glanced over his shoulder to the unopened pile of letters on his desk, then turned back to face her. “I...may have,” he replied.

She walked over to his desk, taking notice of the pile. “You’ve got to be joking,” she muttered under her breath. “Felix!” she exclaimed exasperatedly, annoyance glowing in her green eyes as she looked up at him.

“What?” he answered back, matching the volume of her tone. “It’s all just nonsense from my father anyway. Why should I bother reading it?”

“Do you really think _this_ is the way to show Lord Rodrigue that you can handle responsibility again?” Ingrid huffed. As soon as she finished speaking, she regretted it. She could see Felix start to tense up, his hand balled into a fist, eyes darkened. “I’m sorry,” she said quickly, her voice soft. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

Felix took a breath, his nails digging into his palms as he clenched his fist. “So that’s why you’re here then?” he asked through gritted teeth. “To tell me how to live my life?”

“No,” she murmured, looking down at her feet. “I’m sorry Felix. I didn’t mean it.”

He sighed, running his fingers through his hair as the spark of anger faded away. “Forget it. It’s fine,” he replied.

There was a brief silence between them, Ingrid still wary of Felix’s mood, and Felix still perplexed by her presence. “Wait,” Ingrid whispered to herself, returning her focus to the pile of discarded letters. She shuffled through them, searching for a specific one.

“What?” he asked, coming up behind her to look over her shoulder.

“You really _don’t_ know why I’m here, do you?” Her voice was soft, but serious, with concern in her eyes. She had found the letter she was looking for and was gripping it tightly.

“No, I don’t,” Felix retorted, crossing his arms, eyebrows furrowed.

Wordlessly, she handed him the letter she was holding and stepped past him. She looked to the side and gripped her arm.

Felix looked down at the letter with confusion. He didn’t recognize the handwriting, so it was clearly not from his father. He started to skim it, but was interrupted by Ingrid’s voice, her tone still somber.

“That’s from Margrave Gautier,” she explained. “I got one too.” Ingrid paused to take a breath, wanting to keep her voice steady. “Sylvain has gone missing.”

“What?” Felix’s voice was barely audible. He took a step back, gently bumping into the chair behind him.

“It’s been almost three weeks now,” Ingrid continued flatly. “No one has seen or heard from him. The Margrave is beside himself.”

Felix gripped the chair in front of him, his legs feeling unsteady. “What?” he murmured again, sliding down into the chair. “Where is he?” he asked Ingrid.

“If I knew that, then he wouldn’t be missing, would he?” she snapped angrily. She sighed and shook her head, taking a moment to calm herself. “That’s why I’m here. To see what you know.”

“Me?” he replied incredulously.

“Yes, Felix,” Ingrid answered, trying to not sound frustrated. She turned to face him, her eyes full of worry. “You were the last person to see him. You’re the only one who might know anything about what happened.” She gestured towards the letters on his desk. “The Margrave is demanding answers, and you weren’t responding to anything Lord Rodrigue sent you. So, he asked me to come here to find out what you know.”

Felix leaned forward to set his elbows on the desk, resting his forehead in his hands as his fingers tightly gripped his hair. This was all too much. He was already on edge before Ingrid had arrived, and now it felt like his heart was going to burst out of his chest. None of this made sense. Thousands of questions swirled in his mind, none of which he had the answer to. _Sylvain is missing,_ he repeated to himself. _Sylvain is missing._

Ingrid hesitated to allow Felix to process the news. He looked visibly distraught and she wondered for a moment if it had been a bad idea to tell him. She wasn’t sure how Felix was doing mentally, but from what she had heard from his father, she was understandably concerned with how he would take it. She pushed the thought away; regardless of how he was doing, Felix deserved to know, especially if he was their last chance for any kind of lead. Ingrid walked up behind him and carefully rested her hand on his left shoulder. “What happened after your leave?” she asked softly. “You came back, but Sylvain never returned to his post.” She paused to see if Felix was going to respond. He remained silent, so she pressed a little further. “You both spent a week together; did he say if he was going someplace before he went back? Or did anything happen when you parted ways? Was he acting strange or…?” She trailed off, lifting her hand from his shoulder. She moved to sit on Felix’s bed. He was still unresponsive, head in his hands. “I need your help, Felix,” she finished.

Although distant, Felix could hear Ingrid’s voice through the raging storm. He shut his eyes tightly, forcing himself to slow his breathing. _Calm down,_ he demanded of himself. The storm’s winds whipped in his ears, furiously trying to deny his orders. Again, he heard Ingrid’s voice, full of worry and concern. _She needs me._ He lifted his head, staring at the blank wall in front of him as he fought to suppress the storm’s anger. He took another breath, forcing his anxiety to dissipate upon his exhale. Slowly, he turned to face Ingrid. “Alright,” he nodded, ensuring to keep his tone even. “I don’t know how much it’ll help, but I can tell you what I know.”

Ingrid met his eyes with a small smile, feeling a flicker of hope. “Okay,” she replied. “Do you have any idea where Sylvain may have gone after your leave was over?”

“No,” Felix answered bluntly. “He wasn’t with me then.”

“What?” Ingrid asked with surprise. “I thought you were both on leave together.”

“I was only with him for the first two days,” Felix explained. “The rest of the week I spent camping in the woods to avoid my old man.”

Ingrid sighed and shook her head at him. “I’m going to ignore that last part, but only because it’s not relevant to helping us find Sylvain.”

“If I had come back early, you know he would’ve been angry,” Felix huffed, crossing his arms. “He probably wouldn’t have let me come here, and even if it _is_ just a glorified prison cell, at least I can pretend I’m actually doing something useful.”

“You can believe what you want, but again, this isn’t helping us find Sylvain,” Ingrid retorted. “Why were you only together for two days?”

“That wasn’t my fault,” Felix insisted. “He’s the one that left me behind to go run off doing I don’t know what.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“I mean, he went out, took all his stuff with him, and wasn’t back in the morning. I figured that meant he didn’t want to be around me anymore, so I left.” He felt a sting of hurt as he recalled that morning.

“Felix,” Ingrid sighed, staring at him in disbelief. “Sylvain is your best friend. Do you honestly believe he would just leave you like that?”

He didn’t like the way she was looking at him. “It made sense to me,” he replied defensively.

“Unbelievable,” she groaned, rolling her eyes. “Okay,” Ingrid continued, straightening her back. “So, let’s assume then that Sylvain disappeared sometime that night. That’s the only _logical_ reason why he wouldn’t have been back in the morning.” She saw Felix narrow his eyes at her, but she pressed on, not in the mood to deal with his attitude. “Do you know where he went?” she asked.

Felix debated on responding to the insult, but decided it would only be counter-productive to the conversation. He took a moment to consider her question, trying to think back to three weeks ago. Since his injury, Felix noticed that he was struggling more than usual with remembering things, but fragments were starting to come back to him as they spoke. “Yeah, he was with some girl,” he finally answered.

“What a surprise,” Ingrid replied sarcastically. “That’s not much to go on though. Can you give me _anything_ more than ‘some girl?’”

“Umm…” Felix shut his eyes, trying to recall. “I don’t know, she was just some blonde floozy.”

“Really, Felix?” Ingrid sighed.

He crossed his arms again defensively. “What?”

She shook her head. “Oh, I can only imagine how you choose to describe women when I’m _not_ around.” Her tone was annoyed.

“Is that really important right now?” he snapped.

“Fine,” Ingrid frowned, reluctantly moving on. “Anyway, it sounds to me then that Sylvain must have been taken sometime between him leaving wherever he was with that woman, and him returning to where you were staying.”

Felix nodded. “I agree. But that doesn’t really help us figure out where he could be.”

Ingrid raised a hand to her chin, trying to think of ways to use this new information. It was more than any of them knew before; prior to this, it was assumed that Sylvain was taken on his way back to his post, so this changed the timeline of his disappearance.

Felix stood up from his chair and started to pace, trying to fight back the guilt he could feel rising in his chest. He felt like a fool for leaving without Sylvain. _But how was I supposed to know he was kidnapped?_ He paused for a moment before returning to his seat across from Ingrid, who still looked like she was mulling over their conversation. Another thought came to his mind. He looked to the floor and sighed. “You said it’s been three weeks, right?” he asked. He lifted his head to meet her eyes. “How do we know he’s not de—”

He was cut off by a hard slap on his right cheek. “Don’t you dare say that,” Ingrid growled. “Sylvain _is_ alive.” She looked away from him, and for a moment, he thought he could see tears in her eyes.

“You’re right. I’m sorry,” Felix apologized, rubbing his cheek to stop the pain.

Ingrid took a deep breath, then looked back up at him. “I mean that, you know,” she continued, her tone now informative rather than angry. “If we assume that Sylvain was targeted specifically, it would likely be for some military or political reason. If that’s the case, then whoever took him would have made it public information that he was dead. So, they must be keeping him alive for some reason.”

“I suppose that makes sense,” Felix replied. “So now what? We still have no idea where he could be.”

Ingrid reached into her bag, pulling out her well-used map of the Kingdom. She stood up and spread it out on Felix’s desk in front of him. “I think right now all we can do is try retracing your steps; go back to the source. So,” she gestured towards her map, “you tell me. Where are we going?”

“We?” Felix echoed, raising an eyebrow. “I thought you weren’t allowed to go anywhere.”

She crossed her arms, lips set in a firm line. “My father may be barring me from fighting in the war, but he is _not_ going to stop me from finding Sylvain.”

“Alright,” Felix sighed, turning his attention back to the map. He looked it over carefully, now realizing that he had no idea the name of the town they had stayed in.

Ingrid watched him, obviously floundering over the location of their destination, and rolled her eyes. “You don’t know, do you?” she asked.

Felix felt his cheeks start to get hot. “It was just some nothing town in northern Gautier territory,” he snapped. “I didn’t care what it was called.”

“Let me see,” Ingrid replied, looking over his shoulder. “Northern Gautier,” she repeated to herself, scrutinizing the map. “What about here? Finmore; does that sound familiar?” she asked, placing her finger on the location. There were several roads marked near the town, so it was likely a larger hub.

“Maybe?” Felix shrugged. “I met up with Sylvain at his post in Itha, and it was only about a half-day’s travel to get to where we were staying.”

Ingrid nodded and traced over the route he was referring to. “That seems right,” she reported. “Well, to Finmore then.” She started towards the door. “I’ll get our horses while you prepare to leave.”

“We’re going right now?” he asked.

“Unless you have some reason to stay?” Ingrid replied with a smirk.

“No, I don’t.” Felix smiled. He was finally getting to leave the fort, his cell, behind. The urgency and severity of their mission weighed on him, but he couldn’t help but feel a spark of happiness at the prospect of freedom.

*****

As they approached the town’s entrance, Felix took a moment to look at his surroundings. “Yeah, this is definitely it,” he nodded to Ingrid. They both dismounted and walked into Finmore. Felix led them towards the stable where he had previously boarded his horse. As he waited for Ingrid to finish talking with the stablemaster, he took in the sights and sounds of the town, now ringing with familiarity. If they were going to find any lead, it was going to be here.

“Shall we?” Ingrid asked as she approached, taking one last glance over her shoulder as her horse disappeared from view.

“Yeah,” Felix nodded, walking towards the inn. He pushed open the door and stepped inside, Ingrid following close behind. He was greeted with a smile by the innkeeper’s wife, sitting at the front desk as she always was.

“Well, now what a surprise it is to see _you_ back, dearie,” the woman chuckled as they both walked up to the counter. “Oh! And you brought your wife with you?” she remarked, nodding to Ingrid.

Felix’s cheeks turned red. “She’s _not_ my wife,” he hurriedly corrected her.

“Oh, my apologies,” the innkeeper’s wife replied, still smiling as she looked back and forth at them both. “And where is your sweet, young friend? If either of you two decided to return, I would have expected it to be him.”

“Actually,” Ingrid interjected, taking a step closer to enter the conversation. “We’d like to speak with you about him.”

“Oh?” The woman raised an eyebrow and closed the book in front of her.

“Our friend has recently gone missing,” Ingrid explained. “We were hoping to see if you could provide us any information as to where he may have gone.”

The innkeeper’s wife gasped, her eyes wide. “Goodness!” she exclaimed. “Another young man gone missing? What is this world coming to?”

“Another?” Ingrid echoed confusedly.

“Why yes,” the woman nodded. “The Margrave’s son has disappeared. It’s all anyone has talked about recently. With his son gone, there is no heir to House Gautier, so we’ve all been quite worried.”

“Yes, we _know_ Sylvain is gone,” Felix asserted, sounding a little annoyed. “That’s why we’re here.”

The old woman looked again at Felix and Ingrid, the pieces falling into place. “That young man was the Margrave’s son?”

“ _Yes_ ,” Felix sighed, more exasperated than before. He felt the back of Ingrid’s hand quickly slap against his thigh and when he glanced over to her, she had the same look of frustration in her eyes that he had seen several times before during her lectures. Not wanting to incite her fury, he crossed his arms and looked away, letting Ingrid take over the conversation.

“I’m sorry,” Ingrid apologized for him. “We’re close friends with the Margrave’s son, so we’re trying to do anything we can to find him.”

“Oh, well I hope I can be of some assistance then,” the innkeeper’s wife replied.

“Thank you,” Ingrid nodded. “Please, if you could tell us anything you remember.”

The woman’s eyebrows furrowed as she tried to think back. “He did come by to chat with me a few times; why, he even brought me some sweet buns. What a charming boy,” she chuckled fondly. “Now that I think of it, both of the keys to your room were returned, but I don’t believe I ever saw him check out,” she admitted, as Felix snorted softly and shook his head. The innkeeper’s wife’s eyes darted towards Felix, then turned back to Ingrid. “We don’t get too many visitors, so I do generally know when anyone comes in or out of here. I certainly recall _your_ departure, dearie.” She nodded at Felix. “If looks could kill,” she remarked softly to Ingrid, who replied with a knowing smile. Felix clenched his jaw, letting the women have their moment at his expense. “But, I don’t recall your friend coming to return his key, so he may have returned it when my husband was working. I’ll ask him to come out so you can talk to him.” She smiled warmly, then turned and slipped through a door.

Felix and Ingrid waited by the front desk, an uncomfortable silence filling the air as they both looked anywhere but at each other. “So, umm,” Felix coughed, looking over at his friend. “Your hair is...gone.”

“An astute observation Felix,” Ingrid smirked, amused at the attempt at small talk. “Yes, I cut it recently. It’s much easier to manage now.” She combed her fingers through her short bob.

“Uh-huh,” he shrugged.

Before another silence could take hold, the innkeeper’s wife returned through the door. “He said he’ll come out once he finishes what he’s working on,” she reported.

“Okay. Thank you,” Ingrid answered.

“It’s just one thing after another now,” the woman sighed to herself. “The Gautier boy is missing, and a man was murdered outside of town only a few days ago. I thought we would get some peace being so far from the war.” She shook her head.

“Someone was killed?” Felix asked.

“Yes, the body was found on the outskirts of town. They say he was an Imperial spy,” the old woman explained.

Both Felix and Ingrid looked at each other and raised their eyebrows in confusion. “An Imperial spy?” Ingrid echoed.

“I’m afraid I don’t know all of the details,” she admitted, “but, some folks are saying it was the work of that mysterious masked vigilante.” The innkeeper’s wife shrugged with a half-smile.

“I’m sorry, did you say ‘masked vigilante?’” Ingrid clarified while Felix scoffed and shook his head.

“Oh, it’s just rumors,” the woman replied dismissively. “You know how people like to gossip. Apparently, there’s been a masked vigilante traveling all throughout Faerghus, liberating villages from Imperial control, taking down gangs of thieves. Why, there was even one story that they single-handedly stormed and captured an Imperial stronghold in Gideon!” The woman laughed softly and shook her head in disbelief. “The stories change day by day,” she continued. “I even heard once that there’s actually two of them!”

Ingrid opened her mouth to ask more, but was interrupted by a man coming through the door behind the front desk. His hair was gray and his eyes were tired, but he smiled when he noticed Felix and Ingrid standing in front of him. “Afternoon,” he nodded to them.

“Honey, do you remember seeing this boy?” the old woman asked, gesturing at Felix. “He stayed here with his friend, a tall, red-haired boy, a few weeks ago.”

The innkeeper looked at Felix and thought for a moment. “What room?” he asked.

“103,” his wife answered. “I think you may have been working when his friend returned his key.”

The man crossed his arms and continued thinking. He shook his head. “It can’t be 103,” he replied. “A woman returned the key for 103 to me.”

“What?” Felix gasped.

The innkeeper nodded. “Yeah, I remember now. She was a pretty, young thing. Had some nice...assets,” he said with a smirk.

Ingrid looked to Felix, then back to the old man. “This woman, did she happen to be blonde?”

“Yep. She waltzed in here, went to the room for a bit, then came and dropped off the key and went on her merry way,” he concluded.

“Do you think _she_ could be the one who did it?” Ingrid asked, turning to Felix.

“I don’t know,” he replied with a shrug.

“What are you talking about?” the innkeeper interjected, sounding bewildered.

“It’s nothing dear,” his wife smiled, patting him on the back gently. “You can go back to work now.”

Ingrid took a step towards him. “Wait. Is there anything else you can tell us about this woman? Did she say anything at all to you about who she was or where she was going?”

The man shook his head. “No. Didn’t say a word to me. She just came and left.” He walked back through the door and out of view.

The innkeeper’s wife watched him leave then turned back to the pair. “Well, I hope that helped a little,” she sympathized.

“Yes, it did,” Ingrid nodded.

“And will you two be staying here tonight?” she asked.

Ingrid glanced over her shoulder to look out the window. The sun was already starting to set, its warm, orange glow casting onto the floor of the inn. “Yes,” she nodded. “One room, please.”

The old woman raised an eyebrow and smirked. “All we have available right now are single-bed rooms.”

Felix and Ingrid both turned towards each other, Ingrid’s lips turning up into a smile at the sight of Felix’s somewhat reddened expression. She looked back to the innkeeper’s wife. “Two rooms, please.”

The woman chuckled and reached under the desk, pulling out two small brass keys and handing them to the pair. Felix stepped forward to hand the woman some gold, then returned to Ingrid, who had taken a few steps back from the front desk. Her eyebrows were furrowed, clearly thinking hard about the new information they had received.

“We need to talk,” she declared as he approached. “And,” her stomach growled audibly, “I’m starving.”

“Fine,” Felix agreed, walking towards the exit. “Come on,” he said, waving a hand to her and opening the door. “I’ll take you to where Sylvain and I ate; it was decent.” He started down the road, Ingrid following close behind.

*****

“And, that should be it. Thank you!” Ingrid smiled politely at the server, who was still trying to scribble down the entirety of her order.

Felix scoffed and rolled his eyes once the server finally stepped away from their table.

“What?” Ingrid asked defensively as her stomach grumbled at her again.

“You and food,” he sighed, shaking his head with an amused smile.

Ingrid’s cheeks turned red. “I can’t help that I get hungry, Felix.”

He crossed his arms. “Maybe. But you don’t have to always be so…”

“So, what? Go ahead and say it,” Ingrid challenged.

“Forget it.” He shook his head.

“Fine.” If she was going to have to wait longer to calm her angry stomach, then she decided she would use the time productively. “So the woman Sylvain was with is our most likely suspect. If she was the one to kidnap him, then that would explain why she had his room key.” Ingrid’s voice had taken on a more serious tone. “I need you to tell me everything. From the time you got here, to when you left.”

Felix ran a hand through his hair, sitting up straighter in his chair. “Alright. I’ll try to tell you everything I remember.” He paused to collect his thoughts; being back in Finmore was helping him recall more of his experience there, but some details were still hazy. “We got here in the afternoon, and I went out to train for a couple of hours. While I was gone, I guess Sylvain ran into that blonde girl in town and they made plans to meet up that night. And Sylvain forced me to go with him because that girl was bringing her friend with her.”  
“Wait,” Ingrid interrupted, laughter in her voice. “You went out with Sylvain on a double date? _You?_ ” She giggled into her palm at the thought.

“I don’t know why that’s so funny,” Felix snapped.

“I’m sorry,” she replied, failing to stifle her laughter. “It’s just hard to imagine.”

“I didn’t choose to go; I was forced,” he insisted. Felix looked down at the table, his cheeks turning red. “Can I continue now?” he asked tersely.

“Yes, I’m sorry,” Ingrid answered. “So you and Sylvain met up with the blonde woman and her friend. Can you describe them? And preferably in more polite terms than before.”

Felix snorted at the comment, then closed his eyes to try to focus. “The one Sylvain was with was blonde, kind of tall…” He paused as his memory cleared up more. “Loud,” he emphasized. “Obnoxious.”

“Felix!” Ingrid interjected, looking annoyed.

He looked up at her, matching her annoyance. “Hey, you said to tell you everything! I’m just saying what I remember.”

“Do you at least remember her name?” she asked.

“No,” he replied with a shrug.

“Ugh,” Ingrid groaned, rolling her eyes. “Okay, well what about her friend?” She met Felix’s eyes, the teasing smile back on her face. “She was your date, right?”

Felix narrowed his eyes, growing frustrated with her continued amusement at his expense. “Yeah, I guess she was,” he answered. He paused again, able to recall the girl more easily. “Her name was Maria. She was shorter and had brown hair. And she was a lot quieter than her friend.” He thought harder. “Oh, and she carried a sword. Not that she was very good with it,” he added, shaking his head.

Ingrid opened her mouth to comment, but was interrupted by the waiter approaching their table with plates of food in hand. She started salivating in anticipation, the hearty smell of the meat wafting past her nose. “Thank you!” she chirped excitedly to the waiter after her meal had been placed in front of her. He set a plate down in front of Felix, nodded, then turned and walked away. Ingrid’s eyes grew wide at the feast in front of her, quickly reaching for her silverware to start indulging.

Felix smirked as he watched his friend eagerly tear into her food. It was an entertaining sight. Despite her polite, arguably uptight, formality in most other things, Ingrid turned into a bit of an animal when it came to food. Feeling his own stomach growl, Felix grabbed his own silverware to start eating.

After a period of silence as they both attacked their meals, Ingrid looked up to Felix, her green eyes bright with happiness. “This is so good,” she mumbled around her mouthful. She took a moment to swallow before continuing. “Okay, so what happened on your date with Maria and the blonde woman? What did you guys talk about?”

“I don’t remember,” Felix admitted. He took another bite of food. “It wasn’t very interesting, so I stopped paying attention.”

“Really? That’s what you want me to believe?” she asked incredulously. “Sylvain took you out drinking with him again, didn’t he? And _that’s_ why you don’t remember, isn’t it?” Ingrid rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t like your birthday, was it? Honestly Felix, I would’ve thought you learned your lesson after that.”

“That’s enough,” Felix growled. “I’m not going to sit here and let you scold me like I’m some child.” He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “Do you want me to tell you what I know, or not?”

Ingrid sighed. He was right; all things considered, this wasn’t the time for her to lecture him. “Yes, I do. Please, continue.” She returned to eating, the savory flavors overtaking her exasperation.

“Okay, so fine, we _were_ out drinking,” Felix acknowledged bitterly. “That doesn’t change the fact that I don’t remember the conversation though.”

“Well, maybe something will come back to you eventually,” Ingrid offered. “What happened the next day?”

“I...slept in, so I have no idea what Sylvain did in the morning.” He saw her roll her eyes again, but thankfully she didn’t say anything. “After I got up, we got into an argument, and I left.” He paused for a moment, realization sinking in. “That was the last time I saw him.” He looked back down at the table, recalling their fight, as waves of hot shame crashed into him. _Our argument was the last we spoke. If we don’t find him, if he’s...dead, then the last thing I said to him would be, ‘Leave me alone.’_ He shook his head to fight away the thought; Sylvain had to be alive.

“What did you fight about?” Ingrid asked gently.

“It’s not important,” Felix quickly snapped back, crossing his arms defensively.

 _It must have been about the incident in Kiltermon,_ Ingrid assumed, based on his sharp response. “Are you sure?” she pressed.

“It won’t help us find him,” he replied definitively.

She nodded, knowing there would be no benefit in pushing him further. Felix still wasn’t ready to talk about the incident, and she wanted to be respectful of that. “Where did you go after you left?”

“Why does it matter where I went? I wasn’t with him,” he countered.

“Anything could be important,” Ingrid sighed. “Please, just work with me.”

Felix shrugged, but complied. “I went into town and ended up running into that girl again, the brown-haired one from the night before. She was picking up her sword from the blacksmith’s and then she asked me to train with her in the forest nearby.” He shook his head as he recalled their session. “It was a waste of time.”

“I can’t believe you actually agreed,” Ingrid commented, eyebrows raised. Felix wasn’t one who often trained with anyone else, especially not some woman he had just met.

“I felt sorry for her, I guess,” he admitted.

“That’s rare, coming from you,” she chuckled. “What do you mean?”

Felix paused and looked at Ingrid. The words were on his lips, but he couldn’t say them. “It’s not important,” he said finally.

Ingrid cocked her head, eyebrows furrowed. She opened her mouth to ask why, but stopped when she saw how ill at ease Felix looked. “Okay. What did you do after your training session?”

Internally, Felix breathed a sigh of relief that she didn’t try to get him to explain. He closed his eyes again to help him focus on recalling the events. “Oh, right. Things started to get strange after that. I think she was trying to flirt with me or something,” he snorted with disbelief.

“Oh really?” Ingrid cocked an eyebrow with a smirk.

“Yeah, it was...uncomfortable,” Felix replied, turning his head to the side to avoid Ingrid’s amused glance. He ran a hand through his hair, feeling his cheeks start to warm. “I have no idea where she got the impression that I would even…” He trailed off, shaking his head with a sigh. “But, she was a really odd girl,” he shrugged. “I mean, who brings wine to a training session?”

“What?” Ingrid asked.

“When we were done, she brought out this bottle of wine,” Felix explained. “For some reason, she thought I’d want to share it with her.”

Ingrid recoiled with surprise. “After you had just finished training?” She lowered her head. “Who drinks alcohol right after exercising?” she murmured to herself incredulously. She looked back to Felix. “And did you?”

He shook his head. “No, I didn’t want any.” He paused a moment to think, eyebrows furrowing. “She did look a little put off by that, but I didn’t care enough to ask why.”

Ingrid frowned. “Huh. That is kind of strange.”

“Like I said, she was a strange girl,” Felix shrugged, then continued recounting the evening. “Anyway, we were done training and I just wanted to get away from her, so I tried to leave.” He turned his head to the side as he felt his cheeks start to redden and crossed his arms, still perplexed by what had happened. “And she asked to stay the night with me.”

“What?” Ingrid gasped, mouth agape. “That’s a little forward.” She tried and failed to suppress her laughter as Felix’s blush deepened. “So I take it you said no?” she asked with a smile.

“Obviously,” he snapped tersely, unamused by her enjoyment of his discomfort. “But that didn’t stop her.”

“What do you mean?” Ingrid replied.

Felix snorted and shook his head. “Right before we separated, she kissed me.”

Ingrid’s eyes widened with disbelief. “Even after you turned her down? You’re right. That _is_ pretty odd.”

“I don’t know why she was so keen on throwing herself at me,” he grumbled, swallowing down a mouthful of food.

Ingrid nodded. “Yeah, you clearly weren’t interested.”

“Oh, and she kept mentioning how she didn’t want to interrupt Sylvain and her friend, but it’s not like that was my problem,” Felix shrugged, rolling his eyes.

Ingrid sat up straighter. “Wait, Sylvain was with the blonde woman at the same time you were with Maria?”

“That’s what I said,” he replied, a little confused by her reaction.

“And that’s when he was taken. Hmm…” Ingrid paused to take another bite of food, realizing that she had been neglecting her meal due to the conversation. “I wonder if they were working together,” she frowned.

“What, you think _she_ was trying to kidnap _me?”_ Felix scoffed, rolling his eyes sarcastically.

Ingrid paused a moment to consider the idea. “Actually, I was going to suggest that she was trying to distract you from going to look for Sylvain, but, now that you mention it, that _would_ make sense, wouldn’t it?” Her eyes lit up with excitement. He may have offered it in jest, but she felt there was some merit to Felix’s theory.

He crossed his arms disapprovingly. “I wasn’t being serious,” he huffed.

She shook her head. “But, think about it. The women obviously knew you and Sylvain were traveling together. If they were _only_ targeting Sylvain, then why kidnap him then? Why not wait for a better opportunity when there’d be no risk of someone immediately noticing that he had disappeared?” She saw Felix open his mouth to retort, but continued, “I know you thought it was intentional, but it seems unreasonable to rely on the expectation that you would feel that way. But, if they were targeting both of you, then it would make sense for them to try to kidnap you simultaneously; then you wouldn’t have time to realize that the other was missing. You were each alone with one of the women; if that’s when Sylvain was taken, doesn’t it make sense that Maria could have just as easily been trying to kidnap you?”

Felix frowned as he thought over Ingrid’s idea. “Maybe,” he sighed. Some of what she had said made sense, but he wasn’t fully convinced. “I don’t know what they’d want with me though.”

“We don’t know why they took Sylvain either,” she shrugged.

“Okay, but even if she _had_ tried anything, I would’ve easily overpowered her,” he countered, crossing his arms.

“If she attacked you directly,” Ingrid replied. “But if that was their method, I’m assuming Sylvain probably could have overpowered the blonde woman as well.”

“Then why didn’t he?” Felix asked, leaning forward to take a bite of his meal.

She put a hand to her chin to think. “He must not have been able to,” Ingrid suggested. “She must have incapacitated him somehow.”

“You’re saying he was drugged or something?” he mumbled before swallowing.

She nodded, then took a bite of her own food. “I don’t know why else he wouldn’t have fought back,” she sighed, her tone downcast as she felt the gravity of what they had discussed. Her heart ached at the thought of Sylvain being drugged and forcibly stolen away by these strange women and she could only imagine how terrified he must be.

Felix continued to mull over Ingrid’s theory that he was also being targeted; if she was right, then there were likely at least some parallels between his experience and Sylvain’s. “So then, was she trying to drug me too?” he whispered to himself. He went over the events once more in his head with this new information in mind. “The wine must have been spiked. That’s the only thing it could have been,” he concluded firmly, meeting Ingrid’s eyes. “She only started acting so weirdly desperate after I didn’t have any and tried to leave.”

Ingrid smiled and nodded eagerly. “And that _would_ explain why Maria looked bothered when you didn’t drink any.” She took a moment to think, then continued to process Felix’s suggestion aloud. “So that’s why she was trying so hard to go with you to your room. She would have had another opportunity to offer you the wine, and she was probably hoping that if you had slept together, you’d be less, um, guarded, and more inclined to drink it.” She hid a smirk as she saw Felix’s cheeks turn a light pink as he turned away from her.

“So, Sylvain must have drank the poisoned wine then,” Felix frowned, clenching his jaw.

“Well, if some attractive woman he just slept with offered him some wine, do you really think he’d suspect anything?” Ingrid sighed heavily and shook her head. “Probably not, knowing him.” 

Felix let out a loud groan, frustrated, but unsurprised by the idea that his friend had been so easily manipulated. “None of this even matters,” he grumbled bitterly. “So what if that’s how they did it? We’re still not any closer to figuring out where he is right now.”

“I know,” Ingrid replied sadly. She looked down at her empty plate with a small frown. At least by understanding their method, they had gained some insight into what the women were capable of, but it wouldn’t make much of a difference if they couldn’t find them.

Felix felt a sting of guilt from Ingrid’s dejected tone. He hadn’t meant to come off so hostile. He breathed deeply to regain his composure, then took another bite of food while he racked his brain for any more useful information. “The girl, Maria, her sword had an Imperial design on the hilt,” he reported.

Ingrid smiled to herself, not surprised that _that_ would be something he noticed. “That’s not surprising,” she nodded. “But it does confirm that it was the Empire that took Sylvain and not a random bandit group or something.”

“That could also explain why an Imperial spy was here. He could’ve been working with those girls,” Felix suggested. 

“That’s certainly a possibility,” she agreed. “I wonder who killed him; they must’ve had some way of knowing he was a spy.”

“Didn’t you hear? It was the masked vigilante,” Felix scoffed, sarcasm dripping in his words. 

Before he could continue, their waiter appeared to take away their plates. “Did you say ‘the masked vigilante?’” the young man asked, eyes lighting up. “You’ve heard all the stories about him, right?”

“Only a little,” Ingrid replied with a polite smile.

“What nonsense,” Felix muttered under his breath, crossing his arms and sitting back in his chair.

“You know, some people say he was here just the other day asking about Margrave Gautier’s missing son. No one really knows what he looks like, because of the mask and all, so it could’ve been anyone. I think he’s the one that killed that spy though. It would make sense, based on all the stories I’ve heard.” The young man paused for a moment, then bent down to be at Felix’s and Ingrid’s eye level. “This might sound crazy, but, you know what I think?” he whispered. “I think the masked vigilante is Prince Dimitri himself. He faked his death and is now going all throughout Faerghus helping his people!” The waiter stood upright and looked around, not wanting his theory to be overheard.

Ingrid’s eyes widened at the mention of His Highness’s name. Her gaze darted towards Felix, who was gripping the table so hard his knuckles were white, his mouth set in a furious scowl. She closed her eyes in anticipation of the upcoming outburst, knowing full well her friend’s intense feelings about the subject.

“Are you _serious?_ ” Felix hissed through gritted teeth. He quickly stood up from the table, amber eyes glinting with fury as he stared down the now-terrified young waiter. “Dimitri is _dead!_ ” he shouted. “And only an utter fool would think he isn’t!” He opened his mouth to continue his tirade, but stopped as he realized that he had drawn the attention of every other patron in the restaurant. “Idiots,” he huffed, shaking his head as he stalked out of the building.

Felix stormed down the road, not caring where he was going. _Dimitri is dead,_ he reminded himself over and over as hot rage surged through him. The way the waiter spoke with such reverence and hope made Felix want to punch something. He was tired of hope. Hope meant _nothing_. All it brought was pain.

He blinked and his mind slipped back into the forest. He was there again, alone, trapped within the inescapable fortress of trees. Small flickers of flame appeared on their leaves, spreading along their branches, quickly surrounding him with a raging inferno as the acrid smell of the smoke filled his nostrils. As Felix looked to the forest floor, corpses began to appear in his vision, the haunting screams of the lost accompanying their arrival. Thunder roared in the sky as rain began to fall. A bolt of lightning shot across the sky. His chest started to ache uncontrollably.

“ _Enough,”_ he gasped audibly, forcing his way back to reality. He could feel his hands trembling, heart pounding rapidly. He looked around and saw that he had made it quite a bit away from the restaurant, feeling a pang of guilt when he realized he had completely abandoned Ingrid. Felix clenched his fists then relaxed them, exhaling slowly in an effort to calm himself. He hadn’t experienced such a powerful flashback like that in a while, not since he had left home. _I need to get back to Ingrid,_ he thought, trying to suppress his racing heart as he fought to push the vision out of his mind. He shook his head and sighed, still uneasy, then turned on his heel and started back towards where he had left her.

By the time Felix made it back to the restaurant, Ingrid was already outside waiting for him. She gave him a cautious smile as he approached, noticing that he looked disheveled and out of breath. “I already paid for our meal,” she nodded to him.

“Thanks,” he mumbled, looking away from her, not wanting to see the obvious concern in her eyes.

“And I apologized to the waiter for you,” she added. She paused for a moment then took a step towards him, resting her hand on his left shoulder. “Look, I won’t pretend to understand how you feel,” she said softly. “But, there are some days that I wish I could have hope that His Highness is still alive. Even if I know he’s...” She stepped away and looked down to the side, wrapping her arms around herself. “I miss him too,” she continued, her voice practically a whisper. “I almost lost you. And now Sylvain is gone, and if anything happens to him…” She lifted her head to meet his eyes, starting to feel tears form in her own. “Felix, I….I don’t know how much more I can grieve.”

He felt his heart sink at the quiet despair in her voice, understanding her fear and sorrow all too well. Felix took a step towards her and carefully wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a gentle hug. “We are going to find Sylvain,” he whispered into her hair. “I promise.”

“I know,” she murmured back, leaning into his embrace. She hadn’t expected her feelings to come out so strongly. A moment passed as she tried to let go of her sadness, then she stepped back from him. “Thank you,” Ingrid smiled, her voice back to its usual even tone. “Although, that _was_ a bit unexpected, coming from you,” she chuckled softly, hoping to lighten the mood.

“Yeah, well, don’t get used to it,” he huffed as he felt his cheeks redden. He crossed his arms and took a breath. “So, now what?” he asked.

“Well, it’s a stretch, but I may have a lead,” Ingrid replied. She paused, then sighed. “You’re not going to like it though.”

Felix raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“I think we should try to track down the masked vigilante,” she answered.

“You’ve got to be joking,” he snorted in disbelief.

“Just hear me out,” she pleaded. “We have no way of knowing where those women took Sylvain. But, that waiter did say that the masked vigilante was here asking about him, so he could be looking for Sylvain too.”

“And?” Felix shook his head.

“And, if he is, then he may know more than us about where Sylvain could be,” she explained. “And even if he isn’t, it couldn’t hurt to try to find him anyway. Maybe he would help us look for Sylvain.”

“I can’t believe you actually fell for that nonsense. It’s like something out of those dumb stories you’re always reading,” he scoffed.

“They’re not dumb,” Ingrid replied shortly. She crossed her arms. “Look, I’m at least _trying_ to think of what we should do next. And what have you come up with so far?”

Felix looked away from her, jaw clenched in annoyance. “Alright, fine. So what’s your idea?”

“I know a lot of this is just speculation, but we don’t have much else to go off of,” she began. “But let’s say you were right, and the Imperial spy that was killed here _was_ working with the women who kidnapped Sylvain. If the spy was killed by this masked vigilante, maybe he was trying to get information out of him about where Sylvain is.” She saw Felix open his mouth to comment, but Ingrid continued. “I know we don’t know if this guy is looking for Sylvain, but _someone_ was here asking about him. I think, right now, tracking down the masked vigilante is our best shot at finding a lead. We may not know where the women took Sylvain, but I did get the location from the waiter where the masked vigilante was last rumored to be seen, so at least we have somewhere to start our search.”

Felix lowered his head, mulling over Ingrid’s plan. “I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this,” he sighed. He looked up to meet her eyes. “Fine. I guess we can try to hunt this guy down.”

“I don’t know what else there is for us to try,” she admitted with a shrug. “He was last seen just outside of Fhirdiad, traveling south, apparently.”

“So, just to be clear, you want us to wander around in enemy territory looking for someone who might not even exist?” Felix asked incredulously.

“Yes,” Ingrid nodded. “When we get back to the inn, I’ll take some time to look over my map. Using what we know, I can maybe try to estimate where the masked vigilante could be headed, then plan our route accordingly.”

“This is ridiculous,” he muttered under his breath, then sighed. “Okay, fine. I’m in.” He knew he had no other option than to go along with her plan, but he was skeptical of their prospects of success.

“Good.” She turned and started to walk away, back towards the inn. “It’s getting late; we should head back now to get some sleep.”

Felix silently trailed behind as Ingrid led the way into the inn and past the front desk, where the innkeeper’s wife waved a greeting to them. They walked down the hallway to their separate rooms, but as Felix inserted his key to unlock his door, he heard Ingrid’s voice behind him.

“You should leave your door unlocked,” she advised. “I know how impossible it is to wake you up in the morning, so if I can at least go into your room, then I won’t have to yell through the door and cause a disturbance.”

He snorted and rolled his eyes in reply. “Or you could just not bother me until I’m awake?”

Ingrid shook her head. “If I did that, then we wouldn’t leave here until at least midday, if not later.”

“Whatever,” Felix mumbled under his breath, pushing open the door to enter his room. He quickly brought it closed behind him, hesitating a moment to decide whether or not to lock it. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair, turning away from the door and walking towards his bed. Even if on principle he wanted to lock his door, he knew it wasn’t worth Ingrid’s wrath if he did. Felix stepped towards the window of his room and looked outside. Tomorrow would be the real beginning of their search for Sylvain. And for some reason, that meant that it was also the start of their search for the fabled masked vigilante. “I just hope this works,” he sighed to his reflection in the window.

*****

Ingrid stood in front of the door to Felix’s room, taking a moment to steel herself before knocking. “Felix,” she called softly through the door. She reached down and grabbed the doorknob, eyebrows raising in genuine surprise when it turned. _He actually_ did _listen to me,_ she realized with an impressed smile. “I’m coming in,” she announced, still keeping her voice low. She slid open the door and stepped inside the darkened room, carefully closing the door behind her. As expected, Felix was still in bed asleep, seemingly undisturbed by her entrance. She slunk over to his window and pulled the curtain back, the light of the early morning now peeking into the room. Ingrid could hear him grumble in response as he turned away from the window. She looked down at the mess of dark hair and shook her head with an affectionate smile. “Come on Felix. It’s time to get up,” she told him, hoping, but not expecting, her initial, gentler approach would be successful.

“No,” he muttered into his pillow, grabbing the comforter and pulling it over his head. Felix shut his eyes tightly, desperately trying to block out the disturbance. He was exhausted; as usual, his sleep had been haunted by nightmares. He couldn’t remember the last time he enjoyed a restful night’s sleep. Maybe a few more minutes would give his body some of the rest it needed.

“Yes,” Ingrid argued back, putting her hands on her hips as her patient demeanor faded away. “Please don’t make this difficult. I don’t want to have to force you out of bed,” she threatened.

Felix shifted in his bed, but did not reply, holding onto the feeble hope that if he ignored her enough, Ingrid would leave and he could get more sleep.

Ingrid crossed her arms and frowned. “Felix, if you don’t get up now, I _will_ force you to.” She waited a moment, but again, her threat was met with no response. Experience had told her to expect as much, but that didn’t make it any less exasperating. “Alright,” she sighed, uncrossing her arms. She reached down and pushed some of his hair away to grip onto his pillow, hastily yanking it out from under him and throwing it to the side. She could hear him grumble angrily, but she ignored him. She grabbed onto the comforter and bedsheet, pulling them both fully off of the bed as she tossed them to join the pillow on the floor. Ingrid turned back towards him to see that he was now sitting upright, facing her. His tangled mess of hair covered his eyes, but she could still see his scowl.

“Fine,” he hissed out slowly through gritted teeth. “I’m up.”

“Good,” Ingrid replied brightly, stepping past him to sit in the chair in the corner. She brought out her map and unfolded it, spreading it across the table in front of her.

Felix pushed his bangs out of his eyes and winced at the brightness of the room. He glanced over his shoulder to the window. “What time is it?” he muttered sleepily.

“A little after sunrise,” Ingrid answered.

He groaned and reached back to pull up his hair. “Why the hell did you get me up at sunrise?” he sighed, almost feeling too tired to even be angry.

“I planned out our route last night,” she explained. “We have a lot of ground to cover today, so I knew we would need to be up early.” She looked back to him and shook her head as she saw that he was still just sitting on his bed. “Hurry up and get ready. We should try to leave as soon as possible.”

Felix groaned again, not sure why she had to be so chipper. “Fine,” he sighed defeatedly, rising to his feet. “So where are we going?” he asked with a yawn.

“South,” Ingrid answered. “We’ll need to cross the Itha Plains, which is why we need to leave early, because, as I’m sure you know, the Plains are inhabited by monsters. But they’re worse in the evening, so I’m hoping to cross through by midday.” She paused to see if Felix was going to comment, but he just continued plodding around his room to get ready to leave. “From there, I’d like to go to Fort Cahir; it’s where Sylvain was stationed before he went missing, and, while I doubt we’ll get any more information, I think it’s worth it to check. I’ll also send a message to Margrave Gautier to let him know that we’ve begun searching. While we’re there, we can also leave our horses and get some supplies for our journey.”

“Why would we leave our horses?” Felix asked incredulously.

“You said it yourself last night; we’re going to be traveling through enemy territory for an unknown amount of time,” she explained. “Therefore, we should be as discreet as possible. We’ll need to stay off the main roads, and it’ll be easier to do that on foot. I know it will slow us down some, but I think it’s worth it. We can’t find Sylvain if we’re captured by enemy forces.”

“You really thought out everything, didn’t you?” he smirked, unsurprised by her diligence. Once he was finished getting dressed and ready to leave, Felix walked up behind Ingrid to look over her map as she continued to show him their intended route.

“Yes, I did,” Ingrid nodded. “From Fort Cahir we’ll cross over the border into Blaiddyd territory. If the masked vigilante was last seen south of Fhirdiad, then he may still be near the city.”

Felix shook his head. “If either he or Sylvain are in Fhirdiad, there’s nothing we can do. The Dukedom has it locked down; we’d be captured if we came anywhere near the gates.”

“Then we just have to hope that they’re not there,” Ingrid shrugged. She knew that it was a possibility, but Felix was right; there was no way for them to safely get into Fhirdiad. “Anyway, there are a few small villages south of Fhirdiad, so I think we should camp outside of one, and then I’ll go into town and ask around to see if anyone has seen either Sylvain or the masked vigilante.”

Felix cocked an eyebrow. “Just you?” he asked.

Ingrid nodded. “Yes. We are going to be in the Dukedom; we have to assume that there are enemy soldiers at any location. House Galatea has remained neutral, so it is far less likely for me to be recognized as a threat by the enemy. On the contrary, not only have you been actively serving on the front lines, your father is the leader of the resistance. You look similar enough to Lord Rodrigue that you could be identified fairly easily, so it would be too much of a risk for you to be seen.”

He crossed his arms, taking a moment to think about what she had said. As always, she was probably right. Even prior to the war, his old man was a public figure, so it wasn’t unreasonable to expect that someone could guess who Felix was based on his appearance. “Alright, I guess you have a point,” he admitted. “But is it going to be safe for you to go into town by yourself?”

“How long have we known each other Felix?” Ingrid asked, rolling her eyes. “I would think that by now you would know that I am more than capable of protecting myself should anything happen.” She looked down at the table. “I may not be able to fight in the war, but that doesn’t mean I’ve slacked off on my training.”

“Fine,” Felix sighed. He knew there was no point in arguing with her; she _could_ handle herself, but he still felt the idea was worrying.

Ingrid folded the map back up and returned it to her bag. She stood up from her chair, turning to face him. “Looks like you’re ready to go,” she commented, noticing that he finally looked at least mostly put-together.

He nodded and then yawned. Felix was still exhausted, and from the way Ingrid spoke, it sounded like it was going to be a while until he would have the chance to try again for some decent sleep.

“To Fort Cahir then,” she nodded back, throwing open the door to his room and walking briskly down the hallway.

“Yeah,” Felix replied, but Ingrid was already out of his view. He took a moment to stretch his back, then left the room, trailing behind her.

*****

Felix awoke to the sound of birds chirping in the trees, a faint wind making the leaves rustle to greet the morning. He sat up, shaking away the remnants of his nightmare, and looked to his right. Ingrid was already gone. He wasn’t surprised; he’d learned that nowadays she tended to wake up with the sun. “She must already be in town,” Felix mumbled. He rose to his feet, taking a moment to appreciate the quiet solitude. Carefully, he massaged the stiffness out of his right shoulder. He yawned, then began to pack up their things.

They were camped outside a village in Blaiddyd territory, south of the Tailtean Plains. It was the third place they had traveled to so far in their week of searching. Felix was growing frustrated with their lack of progress with each passing day. They hadn’t learned anything about where Sylvain could be, so they were continuing to look for the masked vigilante, following pieces of whatever leads Ingrid found when she went to speak with the townsfolk. Everything she had heard so far was just more rumors and stories, nothing definitive, so it was getting harder for him to believe that any of this had been worth it. He knew that neither of them wanted to acknowledge that this was a desperate effort, trying to track down someone who may not even exist, because they both knew that they didn’t have any other leads, or any other options.

Felix looked up as he heard the sound of someone walking through the forest towards him. Instinctually, his heart rate started to quicken, and he reached down to grip his sword, scanning the woods for any sign of danger.

Ingrid hurriedly pushed into the clearing, her green eyes alight with excitement. “Felix!” she exclaimed with a smile. She looked to him, then to his hand, and cocked her head in confusion. “Is everything okay?” she asked.

He blinked and shook his head, releasing his sword with a sigh. “I’m fine,” he replied. _Of course it’s Ingrid. No one else knows I’m here,_ he chastised himself, frustrated with his jumpiness.

She didn’t believe him, but she let it go. She had more important things to discuss. “We need to leave as soon as possible,” Ingrid informed him. She looked around the clearing. “Oh, you already got everything packed up. Good.”

“What’d you find out?” he asked.

Her smile returned, eyes lighting up again. “I finally got a real lead,” she said excitedly. “I know where Sylvain is.”

Felix’s eyes widened. “What?” he gasped.

Ingrid nodded. “He was last seen southwest of here, in a town called Mayport, in Gideon.”

“H-How did you find _that_ out?” he stammered.

“It was a little strange, to be honest,” she replied. “The man I had asked about it made it sound like it was common knowledge or something. Those women must be slipping up if it’s that well known where he is.”

“Or it’s intentional,” he shrugged.

“Either way, he was seen there, so that’s where we need to go,” she asserted. “And, I also heard that someone was in town just yesterday asking about Sylvain. If I’ve been correct so far with our tracking, then it’s reasonable to suspect that that person was the masked vigilante. If so, then they’re only a day ahead of us, which is why we need to get going right now. I think we can make it to Mayport by nightfall.” 

Once she was done speaking, she brought out her map to verify their route as Felix silently processed the new information. He almost couldn’t believe it. He felt a spark of hope in his chest. Finally, they had a real lead, a real chance at actually finding Sylvain. “I’m ready to go as soon as you are.”

Ingrid folded her map back up and nodded to him. “It’ll be quite a long hike, and we won’t be able to stop to rest much, but this is what we need to do.” She met Felix’s eyes and smiled. “For Sylvain.”

He nodded back to her, pushing some foliage out of the way so they could start walking. “For Sylvain.”

*****

“It’s not much farther, I assure you,” Ingrid sighed, combing her fingers through her tangled hair. Her legs ached and she was starving, but she knew they had to keep going. 

Felix grunted in reply, exhaustion weighing on his body. Ingrid wasn’t kidding when she said it would be a long hike; they had walked from the early morning into the night, and they still hadn’t reached their destination yet. He shook his head, reminding himself again that the pain in his legs would be worth it once they found Sylvain. He wasn’t going to let his fatigue stop him, even if he felt ready to collapse at any moment.

The pale glow of the moon illuminated the surrounding trees, providing them just enough light to continue forward. Ingrid pulled her map back out, pausing a moment to look it over. She looked to the sky; even with the moon’s light, it was getting difficult to see. But, if she was accurate in her determination of their positioning, then they were just outside of Mayport. “We’re here,” she breathed, looking over to Felix, the exhaustion in his features matching her own. “Let’s find a place to camp.”

Felix breathed a sigh of relief. Their arduous journey was finally over. “Okay,” he nodded, glancing around the forest. He squinted into the darkness, trying to find a suitable place for them to sleep. At this point though, he was ready to sleep anywhere, just as long as it meant they could stop walking.

Ingrid began to look around as well as they slowly continued forward. Then, she faintly heard the sound of a branch snapping. “Hang on,” she whispered hurriedly to Felix, throwing her arm out across his chest. She strained to hear any more noises, hoping that it had just been an animal that she had heard.

Felix glanced over at her, eyebrows raised, waiting for her to clue him in on what she had noticed. He couldn’t hear anything, and the darkness made it hard to see that far ahead.

She looked back to Felix, seeing the confusion in his eyes. She shook her head. Perhaps it was just her tiredness that was making her hear things. She lowered her arm and the two cautiously crept onward.

There was the sound of another branch breaking. Felix froze. He had heard the noise this time. His heartbeat quickened as he felt panic start to build within. There were more noises. More footsteps. More leaves rustling closer and closer to them. Felix unsheathed his sword, taking a step in front of Ingrid and stretching his arm out protectively as they both frantically looked around them, desperate to find the source of the sounds. Ingrid reached for her lance, gripping it tightly in her hands as she readied herself for whatever was to come.

“Well now, what do we have here?” a gruff voice called out to them. A man stepped into the light, his arms crossed with a cocky smirk. Beside him, another figure appeared. One by one, more of them came out of the shadows, forming a circle around Felix and Ingrid, weapons brandished and aimed at the pair.

“Imperial soldiers,” Ingrid breathed, seeing the unmistakable crimson on their armor.

Felix could barely hear her over the sound of his heart pounding wildly in his chest. Once more, in the darkness of the night, he was surrounded. He gripped his sword tighter, prepared to fight for his life. He was breathing heavily, his entire body tense, as he stared down the man in front of him.

“What do you think we should do with them?” a different voice asked.

“Not sure,” the gruff voice replied. “In the old days, we’d have probably been allowed to kill them on the spot. But now… Who knows?” The man shook his head and sighed loudly. “Alright, so here’s what we’re gonna do,” he began, taking a step towards them. They were both paralyzed with fear, sword and lance pointed at the approaching figure. “Easy now,” he said, uncrossing his arms to show his empty hands. “How about this? You lower your weapons, and we’ll lower ours. Then, you’re going to walk with us back to our camp, so then when the boss comes back, he can decide what to do with you. Okay?”

Ingrid took a deep breath, then swallowed hard. “Okay,” she replied, her voice barely more than a whisper. Slowly, she began to lower the tip of her lance, her hands shaking. She knew they had no choice but to comply; even if they _could_ fight off the surrounding soldiers, it was impossible to know how many others were nearby.

“Hey _pal_ , I said lower your weapon. _Now,_ ” the gruff voice threatened, glaring at Felix.

Ingrid turned to him. She could see the rapid rise and fall of his chest, sword still raised in trembling hands, gripping onto it so tightly his knuckles were white. His eyes were blank and unfocused. Trying to steady her own panicked breathing, Ingrid reached out towards Felix, carefully resting her hand over his, pushing down lightly. _Please Felix,_ she pleaded internally, _please come back._

Felix couldn’t hear the man’s orders. His mind was the storm’s. Thunder roared in his ears and his chest felt like it was on fire. Panic seized control of his thoughts. It was happening again. He had barely escaped death the first time. And now he was back. Surrounded. In the darkness. He struggled to catch his breath. Then, distantly, faintly, he felt the gentle weight of Ingrid’s hand on his. _But, I’m not alone,_ he realized, the winds of the storm slowly starting to die down. _Not this time._

He blinked and was back to reality. The man in front of him was still staring him down, an angry sneer on his face. He saw Ingrid’s hand resting on his, and he could feel it trembling in fear. Felix took a deep breath, then began to lower his sword, matching the pace of the soldiers around them. His jaw clenched in anger; he hated being forced to just submit like this, but he knew he couldn’t risk Ingrid’s safety trying to fight them off.

“Now then, was that so hard?” the man jeered once they had all put their weapons away. “Alright, let’s head back to camp now,” he called out to his comrades. “We’ll just have to watch them until the boss gets back. And, until then, we have a brawling tournament to finish!” The group of men all cheered loudly and began chattering amongst themselves. They started to walk away, two soldiers coming up behind Felix and Ingrid to push them forward, forcing them to follow the group back to their camp. They looked at each other, confusion and fear painting their features. Ingrid reached down to grab Felix’s hand, squeezing it tightly. They had no idea where they were going or who these people were, but, no matter what was going to happen to them, they had each other.


	5. Familiar Scenery

“So... that was a little weird, wasn’t it?” Caspar asked, throwing his hands behind his head as he glanced over towards Ashe. “Those girls, I mean.” 

“What do you mean?” Ashe replied, looking back to him quizzically.

Caspar shrugged. “I dunno. They just came up to us and invited us out for drinks. Isn’t that kind of weird?”

Ashe shook his head with a smile. “Caspar, I think that girl was trying to flirt with you. That’s why she wants to see you later.”

“ _Oh!_ I get it now,” he nodded. “So _that’s_ why she asked to check out my muscles.” Caspar smirked and flexed his arm. “Not that I mind showing off.”

Ashe chuckled softly at his companion. They continued walking down the street, passing by merchant stands and food carts on their way back towards the town’s entrance, the warmth of the evening sun casting onto their backs.

“So, what do you think we should do?” Caspar asked as they neared the gates. “Do you want to meet up with them?”

“Well, we already said we would, so it would be pretty rude if we didn’t show up,” Ashe frowned. “And besides, I thought the other girl was, umm….kind of cute.” His cheeks turned a soft pink as he looked towards the ground.

“Yeah? Well, you know me,” Caspar looked to him, excitement glowing in his blue eyes, “I’m always up for a night of drinking!” He laughed, clapping Ashe on the shoulder.

“Oh, I know you are,” Ashe chuckled back, shaking his head with a smile. 

The pair continued walking, passing through the town’s entrance, heading back through the nearby forest to reach their camp. They entered the clearing and were greeted by excited shouts from some of the men sitting by the fire. Ashe nodded his head back in greeting, walking over near the fire and setting down the bag of ingredients he was holding.

“Hey guys!” Caspar shouted energetically to his men. He heard the sound of a tent flap opening and looked over. “Hey Linhardt!” he called out, waving to his friend.

Linhardt stepped out of his tent and glanced around the camp, his blue eyes tired. “Hello Caspar, Ashe,” he yawned. “You’re back already?” He walked to one of the logs near the fire and sat down, setting his elbow on his leg and resting his chin in his hand, trying to fight off his drowsiness. Now with the pair returned, Caspar’s troops were only going to get louder and more rowdy, so it seemed that napping was not on the table anymore. “How did it go?” he asked Ashe, who had moved to sit on another log. “Did you find out anything?”

Ashe’s eyes widened, eyebrows raising. “Oh no. Caspar! We completely forgot to ask about Sylvain!” He shook his head. “We got distracted after I finished the shopping and just left town,” he sighed.

“Hmm? Oh yeah,” Caspar nodded. “Well, that wasn’t our fault. We were interrupted by those girls.”

“Girls?” Linhardt repeated, looking up towards Caspar.

He nodded again. “Yeah. These two girls came up to us and invited us out for drinks tonight. Wanna come?”

Linhardt crossed his arms and closed his eyes. “Hmm, let’s see. I _could_ go with you to some loud, sweaty tavern with two people I’ve never met, or I could stay behind here to read my book and get some extra sleep.”

“So...is that a no?” Caspar asked.

“Correct,” Linhardt nodded.

Ashe chuckled at the exchange; their dynamic was always entertaining to him. “Well, if you do change your mind, you’re welcome to join us,” he added. “Once you pass through the gates, if you take a right, it’ll be the third or fourth building on the left.”

Linhardt smirked. “While I doubt it will be useful to me, I appreciate the information nonetheless.”

“I still do feel bad that we didn’t ask around about Sylvain,” Ashe sighed, looking to the ground. “I mean, that’s the whole reason we’re here.”

“Yeah, but we can just do it tomorrow,” Caspar replied with a shrug.

“But we’ve traveled all this way,” Ashe continued, still sounding downcast. “I know I’ve said it before, but I want to again. I really appreciate that you’ve agreed to help me look for him. I know our plan was to head into the Empire, but once I heard about Sylvain’s disappearance, I just had to do _something_.”

“Yeah, yeah, we know,” Caspar nodded with a smile.

“While he may not have been in our class at Garreg Mach, it’s not like we never interacted with Sylvain,” Linhardt added. “I can recall running into him a few times in the library. Although, he acted as if he didn’t want to be seen there.” He laughed softly. “Oh, and we had a good discussion once about magical theory as it relates to an individual’s temperament. It was quite an interesting subject, and it’s not often that I’m _that_ intrigued by conversation.”

“I didn’t see him around the training grounds all that often, but I can remember sparring with him a few times.” Caspar walked over to Ashe and took a seat beside him. “And besides,” he continued, punching Ashe’s arm, “even if we didn’t know him, our whole thing is helping the helpless, right? And what’s more helpless than being kidnapped?”

Ashe chuckled, smiling at both of his companions. “Well, thank you both. I’m glad I can count on you.”

“So,” Linhardt said, pausing a moment to yawn, “even though you didn’t get around to asking about Sylvain, did you manage to find what you were looking for with your shopping?”

“Yes, I did,” Ashe nodded. “I was able to pick out some good-looking vegetables and herbs, so I should be able to make a nice stew for us tonight. That is, if we can get some meat to add in there as well.” He looked over his shoulder towards Caspar.

Caspar’s eyes lit up, a smile stretching across his face. “Aw yeah!” he exclaimed, quickly rising to his feet. He turned towards his men. “Alright guys, we have some hunting to do! Let’s go!” Without waiting for a reply, he started towards the forest, hurriedly pushing through the foliage. With an accompanying cheer of assent, Caspar’s troops followed suit.

“He’s not going to catch anything with all that yelling,” Linhardt sighed, an affectionate smile on his face.

“Well, being subtle isn’t really Caspar’s specialty, is it?” Ashe joked back, shaking his head. “I guess I’d better get started then, huh?” He stood up from the log and looked back down at the bag of ingredients.

Linhardt nodded, rising to his feet as well. “Let me know if you need any assistance. But, please, don’t need my assistance.” He turned away from Ashe to return to his tent.

Ashe smiled to himself, now alone by the fire. It was hard to believe that he had been traveling with Caspar and Linhardt for almost a year now. It felt like it was just yesterday that he had run into Caspar when they were both hunting down the same bandit leader. He chuckled as he remembered how they stood there arguing with each other over how to deal with the bandit, so distracted that he slipped away from them. They may have only initially teamed up to bring him down, but Ashe had to admit that agreeing to start traveling with them was one of the best decisions he could have made. It was lonely the moons that he had spent wandering throughout Faerghus after he left the service of House Rowe. Having companions he could rely on now was a welcome change of pace, even if he and Caspar often disagreed about how to handle the different situations they found themselves in. Regardless, Caspar and his troops were invaluable in battle, and Linhardt’s incredible healing abilities had saved them countless times. With all the trials and tribulations they had already gone through together, Ashe felt confident that they would soon be able to rescue Sylvain, and then continue on their mission into the Empire.

*****

“Well, I am just _so_ glad we were able to meet up tonight! Aren’t you, Mare-Mare?” The blonde laughed and looked to her side, green eyes bright with excitement.

“Y-Yeah,” the brunette nodded softly, turning away from her friend to meet Ashe’s eyes across from her. “I’m glad we get the chance to chat.” She cocked her head slightly, a small smile on her face.

Ashe returned the smile, a faint blush of pink on his cheeks. He reached forward to grab the mug of ale that Caspar had brought for him, bringing it to his lips. He closed his eyes and took a drink, trying his best to swallow it down without revealing how much he disliked the taste. He had never been that fond of alcohol, but he found himself indulging in it more frequently throughout his travels with Caspar. Taking a moment to clear his throat, Ashe looked to his left to see Caspar swigging down his own drink with fervor. “So, Maria, Julianna, what brings you both to Mayport?” he asked politely.

“We’re travelers, actually,” Julianna replied, ruby lips curled into a smile.

Caspar dropped his hand back to the table, haphazardly slamming his mug against the wooden surface. “Well, whaddaya know, so are we!” He beamed at them. “Where ya from?”

The women both looked to each other, then back to Caspar and Ashe. “I, um, I think we can trust them,” Maria murmured.

Julianna nodded to her friend. “Agreed.” She turned her attention back towards the pair. “We’re from Rowe territory,” she explained. “Just recently, we were able to arrange for transport over the border into Gideon, so now we’re trying to make our way northeast towards Fraldarius territory. We’ve heard that’s one of the safest places nowadays.” She paused a moment to look over each shoulder, long blonde hair swishing with the quick movement. “Don’t tell the Empire on us, ‘kay?” she whispered with a wink.

Ashe chuckled. “No worries. It sounds like we’re on the same team then.”

“Wait,” Caspar interjected, “why would you need help crossing the border from Rowe? Isn’t Gideon still Empire-controlled territory?”

Maria began to twirl a piece of her hair nervously. “W-Well, yes, but—”

“House Rowe closed down its borders once it declared fealty to the Empire,” Ashe explained. “Count Rowe was worried people were going to begin to flee the territory when it happened, so he’s kept the borders heavily guarded, making it very difficult for anyone to pass through.”

“Well _you’re_ well-informed,” Julianna giggled.

“I’m just familiar with it is all,” Ashe smiled with a blush. “At the start of the war, I served House Rowe. Once the Count decided to change sides though, I left my position to travel throughout Faerghus.”

“Ooh that sounds _dangerous_ ,” Julianna smirked. “Right, Mare-Mare?”

The brunette nodded in agreement. “You must be very brave,” she added softly.

“Oh no, it’s nothing like that, I assure you,” Ashe replied, blushing deeper.

“Aw, come on Ashe!” Caspar exclaimed, lightly punching his friend’s arm. “You gotta give yourself some more credit. It takes guts to do what you did.” He laughed and threw his drink back again, swallowing down several mouthfuls.

Ashe shook his head with an amused smile. “You’re only saying that because you did the same thing.”

“Ooh, really?” Julianna perked up, eyebrows raised, green eyes on Caspar.

Caspar finished drinking and set down his mug. He shrugged, throwing his arms behind his head. “Yeah, I guess you could call it that. I’m originally from the Empire, actually.”

“What? Really?” Maria gasped, covering her mouth with her hand.

Caspar nodded. “Yeah, but I defected.” He paused for a moment, crossing his arms as his voice took on an unusually serious tone. “I was given an order that I couldn’t follow through on. It didn’t feel right to me.” He shook his head, his eyes shifting focus to the table, then back up, now back to their usual brightness. “If that kind of thing was what the Empire was willing to do to win the war, then I knew I couldn’t keep fighting for them. So, my men and I left the Imperial army and came up here to the Kingdom.”

“Well, you must be _quite_ the leader to convince your whole unit to defect with you,” Julianna gushed. “You really are something, Caspar.” She cocked her head, eyelashes fluttering, ruby lips stretched into a coy smile.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Caspar shrugged.

Ashe chuckled softly to himself at his friend’s obliviousness to the blonde’s blatant flirting. “So how long are you planning on staying then?” he asked.

“I believe our transportation is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon,” Maria answered, smiling to Ashe, her soft brown eyes locked on his. “And you?”

“I’m not sure yet,” he replied. “We still have some business to take care of here.”

Maria’s eyes brightened. “Oh, w-well, maybe we could plan to see each other before Julie and I leave?” She smiled, cheeks turning a light pink as she looked to the table. “You’re an archer, right Ashe?”

“Yes, I am,” Ashe nodded with surprise.

“I noticed your quiver before we sat down,” she explained. “I-I’m actually a pretty good shot myself. Or, well, I used to be. It’s been a while since I’ve gotten to hold a bow.” She laughed softly. “Maybe we could go shooting together tomorrow morning? If you don’t mind. I mean, umm…”

“Alright,” Ashe smiled, blushing as well. “That sounds really nice.”

“Aww, well Caspar, now we _have_ to do something together tomorrow,” Julianna interjected.

Caspar recoiled visibly in confusion. “Oh, uh, we do?”

Before Julianna could reply, a figure approached their table, grabbing a chair from a nearby table and pulling it up to where they were sitting. “There you are,” Linhardt groaned, as he sat down, loudly sighing with exasperation as he crossed his arms.

“Hey Linhardt!” Caspar greeted him excitedly. “I thought you didn’t want to come.”

“I didn’t,” he replied with an eyeroll. “But, unfortunately I felt that this would be preferable to the raucous chaos your men are so fond of creating.” He shook his head, green hair brushing over his shoulders.

Ashe looked to Linhardt, then to the women. “Oh, this is our friend Linhardt. He’s traveling with us as well,” he explained. “Linhardt, this is Julianna and Maria.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Linhardt yawned, not bothering to look at them.

Julianna and Maria quickly glanced at each other. “Oh. Your friend. How nice,” Julianna said, her voice lacking its typical bubbliness. “Um, if you’ll excuse us, Mare-Mare and I both could use a refill.” The women hurriedly rose from their chairs and walked to the bar.

“Well now, I get the impression they don’t like me,” Linhardt commented once they had left.

“Nah, it’s not that,” Caspar reassured him. “They just weren’t expecting you to show up.”

“Well, I suppose we should have mentioned that we invited you,” Ashe admitted. “But, you did say you weren’t interested.”

“Oh please, don’t worry about me,” Linhardt scoffed. “It’s hardly my concern what some strangers think of me.”

“We’re back!” Julianna chirped loudly as the women returned to the table, setting down their newly filled glasses of wine. “So,” she began, setting her elbows on the table and resting her chin on her interlocked fingers. “Caspar, we still have to figure out what we’re doing together tomorrow while Ashe and Mare-Mare are doing their thing.” Her eyes lit up. “Ooh! You could come to our inn. I could make us a _yummy_ breakfast.”

“Oh, now that’s a treat. Julie is an excellent cook,” Maria added, smiling at Caspar as well.

Caspar stared back at them, the same confusion in his eyes as before. He shrugged, then glanced over his shoulder. “I dunno. What do you think, Linhardt? Wanna have breakfast with us?”

Linhardt chuckled softly, shaking his head affectionately before meeting Caspar’s eyes. “I don’t think the invitation was for me.”

“What? No!” Caspar exclaimed. “Of course it was! Right?” He looked back to Julianna.

The blonde met his gaze, mouth slightly agape. “Well, _sure_ ,” she replied after a long pause. “The more, the merrier!” She giggled, waving her hand playfully.

“See?” Caspar grinned, bumping Linhardt lightly with his elbow. “I told you.”

Linhardt looked back to him, amusement glimmering in his deep blue eyes. “Yes, I suppose you did.”

“Oh, by the way Linhardt,” Ashe interjected, leaning forward to meet his eyes. “What was going on back at the camp that was so loud?”

He shook his head and sighed. “They decided to have another one of those brawling tournaments. I couldn’t even hear myself think with all the shouting.”

“What?!” Caspar exclaimed, standing up from his chair so fast he tilted the table. “Aw man I can’t believe I’m missing out! Come on guys! We gotta get back to camp so I can get in on that! I need to defend my title!”

“W-Wait! Caspar!” Ashe called to him as he began to confidently stride away. He rose to his feet as well, looking down to Julianna and Maria with a sympathetic smile. “I’m so sorry. It looks like we’re going to have to get going now.”

“Fine,” Linhardt sighed again as he stood up as well. He started to walk towards the entrance of the tavern, trailing behind his excited companion. “Caspar, can you please slow down? There’s no need to run.”

Ashe hesitated by the table a moment longer. “Well, I guess we’ll see you both tomorrow then? We can plan to meet up around here.”

Julianna and Maria both looked stunned at the scene that had just unfolded, eyebrows raised, lips turned into a small frown. “Yeah. Tomorrow,” Julianna finally blurted out. As Ashe turned to walk out of the tavern, the women rose from their chairs to follow behind, hanging back long enough to get some distance from the trio. They stepped outside, looking towards the group as they disappeared past the town’s gates, then back towards each other.

“What the hell just happened?” Maria asked, shaking her head.

Julianna crossed her arms, eyes narrowing. “Follow them,” she ordered the brunette before brusquely turning on her heel and stalking away.

*****

“Through here,” the gruff voice commanded as a hand pushed against Felix’s back, forcing him through the foliage. He stumbled into the clearing with Ingrid at his side. Looking around, he could see several tents, as well as a central fire surrounded by logs. The hand pushed on his back again, jostling him towards one of the logs. “Here. Sit,” the man ordered. Reluctantly, Felix complied, Ingrid taking a seat close enough to him that their legs were touching. “Okay, so you two will just stay there until the boss gets back. And don’t try anything or we’ll have to kill you.” The man looked over his shoulder. “Hey!” he called to another soldier who was walking near the back of the group. “You already lost, so you’re stuck watching them.” He gestured to Felix and Ingrid. The soldier audibly sighed, then walked over and took a seat on the log across from the pair as his comrades jeered at him. The group then walked away from the fire at the center of the camp, off to one side where they had cleared away some of the forest. Within minutes, two of the soldiers were engaged in a fistfight, the surrounding soldiers loudly hollering for their favorite.

Felix looked over to Ingrid. He could still feel her shaking beside him, though he couldn’t tell if it was from fear, exhaustion, or the cold. “We’re going to be fine,” he murmured to her, trying to sound as reassuring as he could manage.

Ingrid smiled at his words, continuing to stare at her feet as she tried to calm her pounding heart. They were so close to finding Sylvain. He was in the town just outside of the forest. And now they were sitting in an enemy camp, captured, waiting for the person who would decide their fate. _I pushed us too hard,_ she chastised herself. _If we hadn’t rushed to get here, they wouldn’t have been able to use the darkness to surround us so easily._

“Ya know, you both look like shit,” the soldier sitting across from them grunted. He stood up, taking a step closer to the pair. “Do you want some food or something?” he asked. He pointed at the large black pot hanging over the fire. “We still have some stew from earlier. It’s not bad. We’ve got a damn good cook with us.”

Ingrid blinked at the man, bewildered. “What?” she breathed, voice shaking slightly.

The man shrugged, running his fingers through his short blonde hair. “I dunno, you just look like you’re exhausted. When was the last time you’ve eaten?”

Felix looked up to him with narrowed eyes. “You threaten to kill us and now you’re offering us food?” he hissed.

“Hey, I was just trying to be nice,” the soldier replied, raising his hands sheepishly.

“Bullshit!” another soldier’s voice called out from the crowd off to the side. “He just thinks you’re hot!”

Ingrid turned red as the man in front of them crossed his arms. “Hey! That’s not very respectful!” he shouted back.

“Yeah man, what the hell?” a different soldier interjected, slapping the one who had made the initial comment. “She’s a lady. At least try to act decent.”

“Yeah, you’re gonna make us look bad,” another added. There was some angry grumbling between the group, but, just as quickly as they were distracted, the soldiers all turned their attention back to the fighting. 

“Wow,” Ingrid whispered, eyes wide in surprise as she heard Felix groan beside her. “That was...unexpected.” 

“Sorry about that. Some of them just don’t know how to act proper,” the man in front of them apologized, looking down at Ingrid.

“No, no, it’s fine,” she replied, still in disbelief.

“Now then, did you want something to eat?” the soldier asked with a smile.

Ingrid looked to Felix, then back to the man in front of her, seeing the genuine concern in his eyes and kindness in his smile. She felt her stomach rumble at the thought of food. The adrenaline from before had temporarily pushed away her fatigue, but now she could feel how completely drained she felt. “Yes, that would be nice,” she answered. The soldier nodded, then turned away, walking over to the large pot.

Felix huffed loudly, crossing his arms and looking to the side. “I can’t believe you,” he sighed, annoyance glinting in his amber eyes.

“Well,” Ingrid murmured, looking first at the man pouring some stew into a bowl for her, then over to the cheering crowd of men, “they don’t really _act_ like Imperial soldiers, do they?”

He shook his head. “If they’re not Imperial soldiers, then who the hell are they?”

“I’m not sure,” she whispered back as the soldier returned to them, holding out two bowls towards them. Ingrid carefully took one from his hand as Felix continued to stare him down.

“If you don’t want it, just say so. But, you look exhausted too. I have a feeling you could use this.” He stretched the bowl out towards Felix, its contents sloshing against the sides.

Felix narrowed his eyes, then reached out to grab the bowl. “Fine,” he hissed.

“Mmm…so good,” Ingrid murmured, closing her eyes as the warm flavors filled her mouth. The soldier was right; they _did_ have a ‘damn good’ cook with them. She hurriedly slurped down the remainder of her bowl, her body once again feeling sparks of life.

“Do, uh, do you want some more?” the soldier asked her, eyes wide from how quickly she had managed to finish what he had given her.

“Please,” she replied somewhat sheepishly, handing the bowl back over to him as she heard Felix sigh and shake his head.

The man returned with her refill, handing it to her, then taking a seat nearby. “So,” he began, looking at the pair with a smile, “where ya from?”

Felix snorted in disbelief, almost choking on his mouthful, before he turned to face the soldier. “Like hell we would tell you anything,” he growled. Unlike Ingrid, _he_ hadn’t forgotten that these people were enemies.

The man blinked in surprise, then shrugged. “Fair enough.” He threw his arms behind his head. “But, if you don’t want to talk, it’s gonna be awfully boring just sitting here silently waiting for the boss.”

“Where is your boss?” Ingrid asked politely, pausing a moment from devouring her second helping of the delicious stew.

“Oh, in town, at the tavern. That’s why we’re having that tournament,” he replied, gesturing to the cheering crowd of men. “Usually we’d all hit up the tavern, but I guess the boss is on a date or something, so we’re leaving him alone.”

“Ridiculous,” Felix muttered, setting his empty bowl on the ground.

Ingrid took a deep breath, then met the soldier’s eyes. “You’re not Imperial soldiers, are you?” she asked. She could feel Felix stiffen beside her, but she needed to know the answer.

The man shrugged with a half-smile. “Depends on who’s asking.”

Ingrid opened her mouth to reply, but was interrupted by the sounds of leaves rustling, signaling someone approaching. She quickly glanced towards Felix, the realization setting in that this could be it. In moments, the soldiers’ ‘boss’ could appear and just order for them to be killed on the spot. Even though the men had been kind to them so far, they were certain to follow whatever orders they were given. She heard the rustling again. The soldier sitting by them rose to his feet and walked over towards the source of the noise, stepping into the trees and out of her view. She could hear voices from beyond the trees. Her eyes were locked onto the spot where the soldier had disappeared, heart pounding. 

A tall figure walked out of the forest, looking over his shoulder. “I’m not going to just wait around while you two argue about who’s going to wear that silly thing,” he called behind him exasperatedly. He stepped into the clearing, turning his attention towards the pair, raising his eyebrows with a half-smile. “Oh. Hello Ingrid, Felix,” Linhardt nodded to them, fighting back a chuckle at the blatant shock in their faces. “I presume you must be our prisoners then?”

*****

Sylvain’s eyelids slowly fluttered open. He blinked rapidly, trying to gain some kind of focus to get his bearings. He had slipped in and out of consciousness so often that time seemed to have lost its meaning. But sleep did nothing to ease his overwhelming exhaustion. He tried to lick his dry, cracked lips, barely able to summon the saliva to do so. His body screamed with hunger as he tried to recall the last time he had been given any food. The meager offerings they did provide for him were just enough to keep him alive and nothing more. He felt dizzy, lightheaded, but he had almost become accustomed to his mental fog. He glanced around, noticing that he was alone. Breathing heavily from the effort, Sylvain bent forward grabbing onto his knees, the chain of his handcuffs rattling from the contact. He pulled his knees in, trying to get his feet close enough to touch. He winced; the movement stung his legs. With trembling hands, he reached towards the rope binding his ankles together, fingers clumsily fumbling over the knot. He sighed, trying to fight back a surge of frustration. He knew he was too weak to try to untie it; several prior failed attempts had taught him that. It didn’t matter anyway. Even if he could somehow free himself, he wouldn’t be able to make it very far. Sylvain took a deep breath, then tried to slide his finger under the rope, hoping to put some space between it and his ankle. With his free hand, he poked around his swollen foot, desperate to feel any kind of sensation. But, as expected, his foot was completely numb, and he knew it wasn’t worth the disappointment to try the other. With a sigh, he leaned back against the wall, fighting the urge to scream in fury. The muscles in his legs were wasting away; feet numbed by the bondage. That’s why they didn’t care about leaving him here alone. It was impossible for him to run away. His breath shuddered. Sylvain wanted to cry, but he knew there wasn’t enough water in his body to form tears. He looked up to the ceiling. _Goddess, if you’re there, I’m so sorry for whatever it is I did to deserve this._

Suddenly, the door to the room was thrown open, a blonde woman angrily storming in before slamming it shut. “Idiots!” Julianna shouted, throwing her hands up in exasperation. “All of them!” She shook her head, then walked closer to where Sylvain was sitting, looking down at him with fury in her green eyes. “And where the hell did that _third_ moron come from? I thought it was just the two of them!” She plopped down into the chair near him, fingers massaging her temples. “Oh come now, Sylvain,” she continued, her voice calmer now. “You’re not even going to _ask_ what I’m upset about?”

He kept his eyes forward, knowing that looking at the woman would fill him with rage. He had never hated someone so much in his life. But he knew he couldn’t say or do anything. It wasn’t worth the punishment to give into his urges.

Julianna stood up, taking another step towards him. “You’re always so quiet now,” she pouted sarcastically. “I miss how _nice_ you used to be.” She reached down to pat his hair, recoiling instantly at its straw-like texture. “Ugh! You _really_ should try to take better care of yourself,” she chastised, flicking her hand as if to cast off her disgust.

It took everything in him to hold his tongue. Sylvain kept his eyes locked on the wall in front of him, feeling the pace of his breathing quicken. It didn’t take much to piss him off nowadays, and he knew his empty stomach was at least one of the reasons why. As if on cue, the thought of his hunger made his stomach audibly growl.

“Aw, did we forget to feed you yesterday?” she jeered. “Oh, I am _so_ sorry.” She laughed, insincerity ringing in her voice. She put a hand on her hip. “It must have been a couple days now, huh?” she continued, pretending to think. “Let’s see what I can find for you.” She turned and walked away, her long blonde hair swishing with each step.

Sylvain’s eyes brightened. He could feel his anger dissipating at the prospect of food. He looked up as he heard Julianna returning, carrying what looked to be half of a loaf of bread. His stomach roared with hunger.

“Here,” she sighed, stretching it down to him before returning to her chair.

Eagerly, he snatched the bread from her hands, the chain of his cuffs clinking from the quick movement. With trembling hands, he took a bite, feeling momentarily overwhelmed by how incredible it felt to eat _something_. As difficult as it was, he knew he needed to eat it slowly, despite the desperate rumbles of his stomach begging him to be irresponsible. Carefully, he ripped off another piece from the stale loaf, closing his eyes as he savored its taste.

Julianna watched him eat with a cold frown on her ruby lips. “You know, I really am getting sick of this job,” she sighed, crossing her legs. “Usually we just kill our targets and are done with it. I hate all this babysitting we have to do.” She shook her head. “I mean, hasn’t it been long enough? We’re not getting anywhere with _just_ you. I suppose you’re only valuable as a packaged deal.” She waved her hand at him dismissively. “If only we had gotten that other idiot as well,” she growled, rubbing her temples again. She uncrossed her legs, bending over closer to Sylvain as he continued eating. “But, alone, you really are _worthless_ , aren’t you?” she shrugged.

He paused for a moment, lowering his eyes towards the floor. It was something he had heard several times before, but it still stung. As the days went on, it was getting harder and harder for him to believe that it wasn’t the truth.

“See, this is why I thought we should’ve gotten the girl,” Julianna continued. “What was her name? Ingrid, wasn’t it? From what you said, she sounds like a fiery little cutie.” She giggled as she saw Sylvain tense up. “And I bet, if we had her instead of you, all you boys would’ve _rushed_ to her aid without a second thought. Simple as that.” She looked down at him with a pout. “She’s probably too smart to fall for any of _our_ tricks though. Unlike you,” she sneered.

Sylvain took a deep breath to try to calm his rising anger. He knew she wanted him to snap. He turned his attention back to the small bit of bread he had left, tearing it into pieces in an attempt to extend its use. His mouth felt incredibly dry, and he knew the bread wasn’t helping. He closed his eyes, debating whether it was worth it to try to ask for water. He heard Julianna rise from her chair, walking away again. In the distance, Sylvain could hear the sound of glass clinking and he couldn’t help himself from perking up.

The blonde laughed again as she returned to Sylvain, seeing the pitiful excitement in his eyes. “Oh, I’m _sorry_ ,” she jeered, raising her hand to show him her glass full of red wine, “did _you_ want a drink?”

He nodded his head slightly, trying again to lick his lips as he stared at the liquid sloshing in the glass. With an exaggerated sigh, she set down her glass on the table, turning away from him again. He heard the clink of a glass and he could feel himself starting to tremble in anticipation. Julianna sauntered back to him, unceremoniously stretching out the water to him. Sylvain hurriedly gripped the glass with both hands, bringing it to his lips. He took a sip and almost wanted to cry from how good it felt to feel the cold water running through his parched throat. He knew he needed to pace himself again though; he didn’t expect her to refill the glass for him.

“As I was saying,” Julianna continued, tossing her hair as she sat back down. “I feel like it’s almost time for us to give up.” She paused as she took a drink of her wine. “This was a desperate plan anyway, if you ask me. But,” she sighed, “I have to follow orders. That’s the trade I made.” She snapped her fingers and blue magic lit up from her fingertips. She started to giggle as she saw Sylvain wince instinctually from the sound. Julianna smirked, then waved her hand, the small blue flame fading away. “You know, it _is_ only a matter of time before we’ll have to just bring you back to Fhirdiad.”

Sylvain’s head shot up, eyes wide. “No,” he breathed, barely audible. He felt his heart start to race. He gripped the glass tighter to keep his hands from shaking.

“What’s wrong?” Julianna asked with a sneer. “You didn’t like your last trip to Fhirdiad?” She giggled, then took another sip of wine. “It took awhile for you to cooperate, but you did finally get around to telling us some _wonderful_ stories about your friends.” She crossed her legs, a cold smile on her face. “I have to admit though, you _did_ come out of there looking a little worse for wear.”

He shut his eyes, feeling the pains of the past shoot throughout his body. He sipped more water to try to calm his breathing, but even its refreshing coolness wasn’t enough to ease his panic. _No, not Fhirdiad,_ he pleaded internally, _not again._

The door to the room burst open again, this time with a petite brunette rushing inside. Maria hurriedly shut it behind her, then whipped around to face Julianna. “We have to go,” she panted.

Julianna quickly rose from her chair, striding over to her companion. “What happened?”

Maria ran her fingers through her short hair. “I followed the targets back to their camp,” she began, pausing to catch her breath.

“And?” the blonde asked impatiently.

“And his friend finally caught up with us,” Maria replied, gesturing towards Sylvain. “And he had the girl with him too.”

Sylvain straightened up again, hope rushing through him. _Felix. Ingrid. You’re here,_ he thought, fighting back the urge to cry tears of joy.

“So, we’ve lured in the wrong prey,” Julianna huffed under her breath, shaking her head. “They were with the targets?” she asked, crossing her arms.

Maria nodded. “It sounded like they knew each other, but I didn’t want to stay to hear all of their conversation because I knew we had to leave.”

“You’re right,” Julianna agreed. “The targets know what we look like, and so does his friend. It won’t take them long to figure it out.”

Maria groaned, gripping her hair tightly. “Ugh. This is all my fault. I wish I had just killed him when I had the chance, but I let him get away.”

“There’s nothing we can do about that now,” the blonde replied calmly, caressing the other’s arm lightly to try to soothe her.

“I know,” she hissed. “But he’s messing up our plan!”

Julianna brushed a piece of hair behind Maria’s ear, then leaned forward to kiss her cheek. “Just give me a second. I’ll figure this out.” She furrowed her brow, clearly thinking hard about their options. “We have to fall back to Arianrhod,” she sighed.

“What?” Maria gasped. “But we’re not supposed to until—”

“We don’t have a choice,” the blonde insisted. “We can’t take the five of them and their lackeys by ourselves. But they’ll follow us to Arianrhod. And then we’ll have the upper hand.”

Maria took a breath, then nodded. “Okay. If that’s what you think we should do, then I trust you. You’ve gotten us this far.”

“Good,” Julianna grinned. “Go find our contact; tell him we need transport out as soon as possible. Then, come back here and grab him.” She pointed over her shoulder towards Sylvain.

He looked away to hide his smile. He almost couldn’t believe it. _They’re coming to save me._ He blinked rapidly, trying to stop the tears from forming. He shook his head, reality mixing in with his jubilation. _But what if something happens to them? What if they get captured too?_

“What are you going to do?” Maria asked, her voice pulling Sylvain out of his thoughts.

Julianna turned back from the door, a devilish smile stretched across her lips. “I need to make sure they won’t try to follow us tonight. So, I think I’ll go out,” she snapped her fingers again, sparks of red flame shooting out from the tips, “and light up their night a little.”

*****

“L-Linhardt?” Ingrid stammered out, her and Felix quickly rising to their feet. She blinked a few times, trying to convince herself that this wasn’t a dream.

“Wait, did you say Ingrid and Felix?” a voice called out from the trees. Caspar bounded into the clearing with a smile on his face. “Hey guys!” he greeted, cheerfully waving at the petrified pair.

“What?” another voice gasped, Ashe now joining them in the camp, eyes wide. “I don’t believe it!” he exclaimed, rushing over to them. He threw his arms around Ingrid, pulling her into a tight hug.

“Ashe!” Ingrid smiled, wrapping her arms around him.

Felix stared at the scene, mouth agape, still trying to process everything. “What, is the rest of Garreg Mach back there too?” he asked, mostly sarcastically, as he looked back to the line of trees where the trio had appeared from. For a brief moment, he thought he saw a branch sway.

“Nah, it’s just us!” Caspar replied brightly.

“It’s so good to see you,” Ashe grinned, stepping away from Ingrid and looking over towards Felix. “What are you doing here?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Linhardt interjected with a short laugh. “They’re here for Sylvain as well. Correct?”

“You’re looking for Sylvain?” Ingrid asked.

“Yep,” Caspar answered, throwing his hands behind his head. “We have been for a couple of weeks now.”

“Yeah,” Ashe continued with a nod. “As soon as I heard that he was missing, I wanted to do whatever I could to try to find him. And Caspar and Linhardt were kind enough to join me.”

“Now then, if that’s enough of a reunion, I’m off to sleep,” Linhardt yawned, nodding once more to Ingrid and Felix before returning to his tent.

“Linhardt,” Caspar sighed, shaking his head as the tall figure disappeared from view. A loud cheer erupted from the group of men off to the side. Caspar looked over his shoulder towards them, then back. “They _are_ having a brawling tournament without me,” he frowned, crossing his arms.

“You’re free to join them if you want,” Ashe offered with a soft chuckle.

“It’s alright,” Caspar replied. “I already know I would’ve won anyway.” He laughed, then took a seat on the log nearest to where Felix and Ingrid were standing.

“Of course you would have,” Ashe sighed with a smile, sitting down beside him.

“So,” Ingrid interjected, still a little out of breath from the shock. She returned to her seat, Felix following suit. “You’re here for Sylvain. Do you know where he is?”

Ashe shook his head. “I’m afraid not. We only just got here early this morning. It was quite a bit of a hike away from where we were camped before in Blaiddyd territory.”

Ingrid nodded. “Us too.” She paused, resting a hand on her chin as she furrowed her eyebrows. “Wait.” She quickly glanced over towards Felix, her green eyes wide, then back to Ashe. “Are _you_ the masked vigilante?”

Ashe’s cheeks reddened. “I suppose you could say that,” he replied, looking to the side. “But it’s just a nickname some of the townsfolk have given me. I know it’s a little silly,” he chuckled.

“I don’t believe it,” Felix muttered under his breath, putting his forehead in his hand.

“Hey technically we _both_ are the masked vigilante now,” Caspar interjected, bumping Ashe with his elbow.

“That’s true,” Ashe nodded. “I certainly wouldn’t have made it this far without you.”

“Yeah!” Caspar exclaimed, jumping to his feet. “And we wouldn’t have gotten this far without the guys!” he called to the group of men. His shouts were returned with loud cheers from the group. Laughing, Caspar returned to his seat.

“So, they work for you?” Ingrid asked, nodding to the soldiers.

Caspar nodded. “Yep. When I left the Empire, they all decided to come with me.”

“They’re quite a lively bunch,” Ashe chuckled, shaking his head.

Felix frowned and crossed his arms. “Okay, but what about Sylvain?” he asked shortly. “Do you have any idea where he could be?”

“No,” Ashe replied apologetically. “We were planning on asking around today, but…”

“These two girls came out of nowhere to ask us out for drinks and it totally distracted us,” Caspar finished.

“What?” Felix gasped, eyes widening.

“These women,” Ingrid interjected hurriedly, “what did they look like?”

Ashe and Caspar both looked to each other with puzzled expressions. “Well, one of them was blonde with long hair, and the other was a brunette with shorter hair,” Ashe replied bemusedly.

“Yeah, that was the one you thought was cute, right Ashe?” Caspar teased, bumping his friend again.

“N-No,” he stammered, cheeks turning red. “I just…” He trailed off, eyes locked on Ingrid.

Neither she nor Felix were paying attention to the interaction though. They were both facing each other, sharing a knowing smile. “So, we were right,” Ingrid said.

“And they’re here,” Felix continued, nodding to her. “Which means he has to be here too.”

“Uh, what are you talking about?” Caspar asked, leaning towards them.

“The brunette, her name was Maria, wasn’t it?” Ingrid replied.

“Yes,” Ashe answered, eyebrows furrowing. “The other was named Julianna. But, how did you know that?”

Felix crossed his arms, looking towards the ground with a half-smile. “Because they’re the ones that did it. They’re the ones that kidnapped Sylvain.”

Ashe gasped. “W- _What?!_ ”

“No way!” Caspar exclaimed, blue eyes wide with surprise. “But they were so nice.”

Felix snorted, raising his head to meet their bewildered expressions. “Let me guess. They asked you out for drinks, then planned to meet with you separately tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” Ashe nodded hesitantly. “They said they were leaving tomorrow afternoon, so we made plans to see each other in the morning.”

“So, they’re targeting you both as well,” Ingrid remarked.

“But, how did you know all that?” Ashe asked, his tone still surprised.

“Because, they did the same kind of thing with me and Sylvain,” Felix replied bitterly.

“Wow,” Caspar gasped. “I was _not_ expecting that.” His mouth turned into a confused frown. “Why us though? Because we’re looking for Sylvain?”

“It’s possible,” Ingrid shrugged. “We don’t know what their motive is for taking him, so they could just as easily be targeting you for some completely unrelated reason.” She straightened up, a small smile on her face. “This is good though,” she nodded. “This is our best chance to catch them. They don’t know Felix and I are here. So, they also don’t know that we let you in on their secret. When you both go to see them tomorrow, we’ll follow you. And then, we’ll take them down.”

“That’s a brilliant plan, Ingrid!” Ashe grinned.

“Oh, I’m not sure about _that,_ ” she replied, cheeks pink.

Felix rolled his eyes at the exchange, then mulled over her idea. “What if they already know we’re here?”

“How could they possibly know that?” Ingrid protested, shaking her head.

“They knew Sylvain and I would be in Finmore, and _I_ didn’t even know that’s where we were going,” he countered. “They could be tracking our movements somehow.”

Ingrid raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t you being a little paranoid?” 

“No, I’m not,” Felix frowned. He recalled the slight sway of the branch he had noticed when the trio returned to their camp. “You were just out with them, right? Were you followed on your way back here?” he asked, lifting his head to look at Caspar and Ashe.

They looked at each other, then back towards Felix. “Umm...no?” Caspar shrugged.

Ashe groaned. “With how loud you were being, we wouldn’t know if we were. But, we did leave the tavern before them, so I guess they _could_ have followed us.”

Ingrid crossed her arms with a frown. “I still think it’s highly unlikely that they would know we’re here.”

Felix opened his mouth to retort, but was interrupted by the abrupt sound of rustling foliage. The group all turned towards the sound. The blonde soldier that had been watching them before burst from the trees, gasping to catch his breath. He bent over, panting. “Boss,” he huffed. “I was in town, at the tavern, and…” He straightened up, eyes panicked. “You’ve gotta come quick! There’s a fire! The whole town’s up in flames!”

All of them leapt to their feet. The group of men rushed over towards them, clearly hearing the man’s shouts. Linhardt pushed his way out of his tent, covering his mouth as he yawned.

“We need to go help the townsfolk!” Ashe exclaimed, making his way towards the treeline.

“Everyone! With me!” Caspar called to his troops, hurriedly following behind Ashe. Ingrid looked to Felix, then started to run towards the trees with him right beside her.

*****

The stench of smoke was apparent before they had even reached the entrance to Mayport. The air was hot as plumes of flames licked the sky. Slightly out of breath, Felix and Ingrid ran up to the group standing just outside of town.

“Alright everyone!” Caspar yelled, projecting his voice over the roar of the fire. “Spread out and save everyone you can!”

“Direct all the injured here so I can treat them!” Linhardt called out, jogging up from behind.

Caspar’s troops shouted their assent, rushing into town with Caspar and Ashe close behind. Ingrid began to follow, then stopped when she realized Felix wasn’t beside her. She whipped around. “Felix! What are you doing?”

“This had to be them. They knew we were here,” he growled, gripping onto his sword. “I knew it. They _did_ follow them back...” He trailed off, breathing too heavily to finish the statement, rage building in his chest. “They’re going to get away!” he shouted furiously.

Ingrid ran back to him, covering his hand with hers, forcing him to return his sword to its sheath. “There’s nothing we can do about that. We have no idea where they could possibly be.” She looked up to him, feeling a sting of worry as she saw the unbridled fury blazing in his amber eyes. “We have to help these people,” she continued, wincing at the sound of a child’s scream in the distance. “Please, Felix,” she pleaded, tugging on his sleeve. He didn’t budge. Ingrid sighed, closing her eyes. “Even if you won’t, I will,” she murmured, turning from him and sprinting into town.

Felix watched her run away, jaw clenched in anger. _We were so close to finding Sylvain, and now…_ He stared at the fire; the uncontrolled conflagration had spread to every building in the town. He balled his hands into tight fists, his nails digging into his palms. He hated letting them get away, but Ingrid was right, it would be almost impossible to track them down among the chaos of the fire. Blood roared in his ears. He blinked and saw farmland being scorched in front of him, blood-soaked dirt and a field of corpses behind. He took a deep breath, hearing his father’s voice echoing in his mind: _Be the kind of leader your people need you to be._ He shook his head, fighting away the vision; this wasn’t the time for him to let his past get in the way of what he needed to do. He looked to the town’s entrance, determination now flowing through him, and started running.

He passed through the town’s gates, the intense heat of the fire crashing into him as he came upon a group of terrified civilians crowded together. “Get out of here!” Felix demanded, quickly approaching the group. The sternness in his tone seemed to have pulled them out of their shock as they scrambled away back towards the entrance of town. Looking farther down the road, he could see another group of people standing outside of a building. He started towards them, pushing away some stray hairs clinging to his sweat-covered forehead.

“Please, help us!” a woman’s voice called to him as he drew near. She sounded like she was on the verge of tears. “They’re trapped in there!” she cried, pointing at the building in front of them, completely engulfed in flame.

“Get out of here,” he ordered, softer this time, gently, but firmly, pushing the woman’s shoulder to turn her towards the town’s entrance. “All of you,” he added, turning his attention to the rest of the group standing by her; they were staring at him with terror in their eyes. 

One of Caspar’s soldiers appeared behind the group. “This way,” he commanded, pushing some of the people forward so the rest would follow. He nodded to Felix. “I’ll take care of them.”

“There are still people inside,” Felix replied, looking at the building. “I’m going in.”

The soldier’s eyes widened, but he didn’t protest. “May the goddess protect you,” he said, turning away from Felix to continue to help urge the group out of town.

Felix steeled himself, trying to catch his breath, but the heat was suffocating. He ran up to the burning building, stepping over the glass of a shattered window, likely the escape route of the people who had already safely made it outside. Carefully, he kicked away more of the window’s glass, widening the opening enough for him to easily pass through it. As he scrambled inside, he immediately began to cough. Smoke filled the room, and his eyes started to water uncontrollably. He hurriedly tried to wipe away the tears, desperately looking through the smoke to try to get some understanding of where he was. He could see a staircase in front of him. Looking up, he could see that the second floor was almost completely ablaze. Through the roar of the fire, he was able to hear panicked voices in the distance. He fought down another coughing fit, fighting his way towards the source of the sound, stepping over pieces of burning wood that had fallen from the upper floor, patting away the sparks of flame leaping onto his clothes.

He stumbled through the building, still struggling to see as tears continued to flood his vision. At last, he came upon a door, barred shut by a thick wooden beam that had collapsed in front of it, still alight with flame. Through the door he heard the voices again, their raspy shouts accompanied by coughing. Felix looked at the beam; the base of it was held in place by more collapsed pieces of the upper floor. He stepped towards it, trying to find any place he could grip it that wouldn’t instantly burn his hands. Grunting from the effort, he tried to pull it away from the door, hoping to dislodge it from where it was being held. But, despite his strength, the weight was too much for him to move. He looked up to see that the top of the beam was only being supported by a rafter. _I can’t get rid of it, but I can hold it up for long enough to get the door open._ The fire drew closer to the blocked door, hungrily eating away at the wooden walls. Felix stepped as close to the door as he could, taking a moment to breathe into his jacket, giving himself just enough oxygen to speak clearly. “I’m going to move the beam,” he huffed to the people inside the room, the terrified murmurings quieting instantly at the sound of his voice. “Open the door, and get out.” Without waiting for a reply, he faced the wooden beam, again trying to find any place to put his hands. He could hear the people trying to push the door open. Tears flooded his eyes. Grunting again, he pushed as hard as he could against the beam. He could feel its weight start to shift. Slowly, he managed to lift it past the door frame, his hands burning with pain, muscles screaming from the effort. From behind him, he heard the door open. The people hurriedly rushed out of the room, loudly coughing as they fought their way towards the entrance of the building. Glancing behind him momentarily, Felix saw that the room had emptied. He quickly stepped out from under the beam, letting it crash back into place. He turned back towards the entrance, looking up just in time to see another burning piece of the upper floor falling towards him. He turned his shoulder, narrowly dodging the collapsing wood. He started to cough again, the smoke and flame disorienting him. He tightly shut his eyes, trying to stop them from watering.

Then, somehow, over the roar of the flame, Felix heard a pitiful mew. He looked towards its source, eyes falling on a small black cat clinging onto a wooden plank of what little remained of the second floor. _Damn it!_ Stifling another coughing fit with his hand, he stumbled over to the staircase, clumsily clambering up it as he tried to dodge falling pieces of the building’s burning roof. Carefully, he slid closer to the cat, trying to not scare it more than it already was. The ball of black fluff stared up at him, green eyes wide, trembling. Felix bent down and scooped up the cat, stuffing its small body into his jacket. He winced as he felt the cat’s claws dig into his chest, but he shook off the pain, turning to make his way back to the staircase. Fire covered the wooden planks of the second floor; he could feel its threatening heat licking at his boots. He took a step and felt the floor give way, the weakened wood collapsing from his weight. He could feel himself starting to fall and he gripped onto the cat tighter, shifting his body to land on his back. He hit the ground with thud, head slamming against the floor as sparks of flame singed his back. The cat’s claws dug deeper into his chest as Felix struggled to catch his breath. He scrambled to his feet, seeing that the rest of the upper floor was beginning to fall. He coughed into his sleeve again, wiping away his tears enough to squint through the smoke, desperately searching for the building’s entrance. Just barely, he was able to make out the window, his beacon of light to the outside. 

He stumbled towards it, what little energy he had left now completely spent. He climbed through it, back into the open air, gasping for breath. A startled crowd of onlookers stared at him. He bent over, coughing heavily as he felt the cat leap out from his jacket.

“Felix!” Ingrid exclaimed, rushing to his side. She looked him over, relieved that he seemed relatively okay, then down at the cat, smiling as she watched it brush up against Felix’s legs before swiftly bounding away. “What is it with you and risking your life for cats?” she asked, shaking her head affectionately.

“Shut up,” he panted out, barely able to recognize his own voice from how raspy it sounded. Everything hurt; his hands burned, his back ached, his throat felt like it was on fire. He started to cough again as he fought back the urge to vomit.

Ingrid looked towards the staring crowd, silently, but forcefully waving her hand to shoo them away, wanting to give Felix some space. The few soldiers standing in the group nodded to her, then began to guide the people away. She looked around, making sure that this was the last place that needed to be evacuated. She turned her attention back towards Felix, who was still bent over trying to catch his breath. Parts of his clothes had been burned away, ash covering his hair and face. “We need to get you to Linhardt,” she whispered to him, wrapping her arm around his waist as she carefully began to guide him away from the burning town.


End file.
